


A Study in Choice and Chance

by trashnoona



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10041485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashnoona/pseuds/trashnoona
Summary: At the age of three years old, Fate makes a toddler either Collector or a Reliever. They're put together in a compatible match and Life continues with two people in a relationship of unconditional love, support and happily knowing they couldn't live without each other.And then there's Viktor and Yuri.





	1. Case I, Part I

**Author's Note:**

> **quick [very?] important notes before you do me the honor of reading my probably [definitely] not very-good fic:**  
>  1\. inspired by a manga i read a long ass time ago, i cannot remember the name of for the life of me  
> 2\. had to give viktor's parents names and it killed me bc it feels like a self insert but they're necessary  
> 3\. i don't know shit about botany or anything related to flowers, i don't know why i decided to include it in my fic, if it's wrong please be nice when you let me know how stupid i am  
> 4\. if something doesn't make sense, please feel free to ask me about it  
> 5\. **notice:** tags will be changed as the fic progresses, i will announce when tags updated  
>  6\. don't like the pairing? don't read, don't comment, don't hate  
> 7\. thank you so much for even considering reading this dumb little thing i wrote, i appreciate you bunches

The headaches begin when Viktor's two years old, one year younger than the average Collector.

At least, that’s what his parents tell him once he’s a little older and can understand the process that is Interchange. Truth be told, Viktor doesn’t really remember any of his toddler years or the incident but his parents would never be able to erase it from their minds. He had been a little stroppy that day, he wouldn’t stop crying or throwing every toy handed to him but his parents hadn’t thought much of it, he had always been a bit of a fussy baby. It wasn’t until his temperature started sky rocketing that they knew something was wrong and then half way to the hospital he had passed out, whirling them into a complete panic.

The cause is something simple, he collected too much Energy. The cure is even simpler, they drain it by attaching his hands to a weird machine that takes the pain away. The doctors are nice and give him a lollipop because they’re not dentist and tell the Nikiforov family that they’ll put Viktor’s information in the Interchange Register and find a Reliever match soon enough.

His parents tell him it’s because he’s special, that’s why he started collecting at such a young age. It’s a sweet to think that that will ease the headache that gathers daily in his temples and travels to the back of his eyes until it feels like it’s consuming his entire head and creating a pressure that could make it explode.

“It’s because you have so much to give,” His mother, Ekaterina, would coo at him, soothingly brushing his hair back and tears away while the machine, the one they bought that kind of looks like the one at the hospital but smaller, drains all the pain away.

He might be “special” but that doesn’t change the fact that apparently, his Energy isn’t compatible with any registered Reliever in St. Petersburg. _It’s fine, it’s normal, sometimes it takes a year or so to find a match._ That’s what the doctors say and they widen their search to include all the data base in Russia and still find nothing.

His parents start to fret, the doctors reassure them it’s fine but they’re going to widen their search internationally (a little less common but still achievable) and the days’ pass by with the daily buildup of agonizing pain until it all slowly becomes routine and he learns to drain more frequently so there aren’t any excruciating headaches and soon it’s just _normal_ for Viktor to have his Energy taken by his little Drainer as opposed to a human being.

Months go by, the results come back and even at an international level he doesn’t have a match.

“It is unlike any case we’ve ever encountered,” The doctor honestly explains to them the day of their appointment. And while Viktor doesn’t really understand what exactly is going on, he knows that his parents are worried. The doctor, though, keeps talking, “But it’s not impossible to deal with. We’ll keep looking for a match on an International scale and meanwhile Viktor can keep using Drainers to take away his Energy.”

It makes his parents uneasy to just leave it at that but they ask all and every question they could possibly think of to the doctors and always end up in the same place.

To Viktor, nothing in his life changes. He is four years old now and using the Drainers has always been his normal. And it’s not that his parents purposely kept him from people, it just accidentally works out that way. They’re busy working and don’t really interact with other adults who have kids. So, the years go by and Viktor doesn’t know anything different from the life he’s led.

\--

Eventually, he starts school and it’s then he realizes how different his situation really is.

In his class, all his classmates are matched and they all exchange Energy by holding hands or touching fingers and even some daring ones with pecks on their tiny mouths. Viktor wraps his lips around the metallic, cold tube of his portable draining machine whenever he feels the build up getting to be too much and for the first time he begins to wonder what it feels like to Interchange with someone warm.

“Is your Energy not good?” Georgi, a kid from his class and Collector himself, asks one day during lunch when Viktor takes out his machine to drain. Viktor blinks, not understanding the question and unable to say so since his mouth is in use. Georgi leans forward, curious. “You don’t have a Reliever, is it because your Energy is…bad? Did they not want you?”

“Georgi!” Next to him his Reliever, Anya, is outraged by this personal question and pushes him off his chair to show it.

Everybody at the table laughs, including Viktor, but after Georgi gets back up, huffing and puffing, all his classmates turn to him for an answer. It might have been a rude question but they all want to know about their peculiar classmate, why is he alone? In fact, Viktor would like to know himself, but he doesn’t have the answer either.

“I’m not sure,” He replies at last, tucking his Drainer back into his pocket. He picks up his fork and slowly pokes at his food. “Nobody can find them…” Then he looks back up with big bright eyes and a hopeful smile. “But the doctors are looking for them so I’ll just keep hoping they’re okay, wherever they are!”

It’s in that moment that solidifies his standing as the most popular boy in his entire grade. All the boys and girls admire his courage and strength to be able to survive without a Reliever, to be a _real_ big kid and handle it so well. For his part, even for a six-year-old, Viktor enjoys the attention and praise, it feels comfortable and nice to have people all around who care for him, who are rooting for him. It makes it easy to start believing he’ll be fine just as he is.

So, one day after school a few months later, while he’s working on his homework and his mother’s washing the dishes after dinner, she asks him how school is going, and he’s able to answer, “Everything is really good!”

“And the Drainers are all working ok?” It’s been four years with the machines, one year with the new portable mini ones that have worked perfectly well but a mother can’t help but worry that something, even the most obscure thing, could go wrong.

“Yup,” Viktor guarantees, finishing off some math division problems before making his announcement, “Hey mama, I decided that I don’t think I need a Reliever after all.”

Ekaterina jerks her head up from the bowl in her hand and looks over her shoulder towards her son sitting at the counter across her way. She quirks an eyebrow, amused, before going back to rinsing the dish. “Is that so?”

Viktor nods hard, to show how much he means it, putting his pencil aside. “I can be okay on my own. I have been, always right?”

That draws her complete attention.

“You’re not alone Vitya,” She’s suddenly less amused and more concerned about her son’s choice of words. She places the clean bowl on the counter, turns off the faucet and walks closer to her son. “You have papa and me. We’re always here for you. And all your friends from school, your teachers, they all adore you. You’re not on your own sweetheart.”

“I know that,” The little boy snorts, fiddling with his thumbs and shrugging offhandedly. “But I just mean that if we can never find them…my match…that’s okay too.”

She tilts her head, “Is it?”

“Yes,” He replies quickly and ever so slightly sharply. His mom furrows her eyebrows in worry and watches as her son fidgets under her gaze until he picks up his pencil again and starts scribbling his homework furiously.

Gently, she places a hand on her son’s mess of a silver hair and smooths it out, murmuring as sweetly as she can, “Viktor, they’ll find your person soon enough.”

“Yeah but it’s also fine if they don’t,” His little voice is tense and sad even though he’s trying to be strong.

They share a small moment of eye contact before Viktor smiles, brushing it all away, and going back to his work. However, Ekaterina finds her heart hurting for her son. She knows he’s doing his best to be ok with the situation that is out of his hands while being surrounded with people who are constantly, without knowing, showing how different he really is compared to them, but the situation is also one out of her control. She and her husband have scoured their minds and resources to figure out a quicker solution but all there is to do is wait.

In the meantime, as a last resort, the next weekend they are free, they get Viktor a dog.

\--

As the years go by, one of Viktor’s favorite hobby becomes gardening.

It all begins in the spring of first grade when their teacher assigns the class to do a bean growing experiment and his ends up being the best one. At that moment, he doesn’t really know what he did better than the rest of his classmates, he remembers being fascinated by the green and white roots that sprouted one day after a week of consistently taking care of it. He felt such a sense of pride watching it get bigger and bigger and healthier under his care and having it be declared the best grown had made him happier than he felt in a long time.

“You’ve got quite the green thumb there Viktor,” His teacher praises him as she gives him back his little plant.

Viktor scrunches his nose, glancing down at both his thumbs that are most definitely not green. “No, they’re not, they’re normal color.” He holds them up for her to see.

“That’s not it,” She laughs pleasantly and grabs his little thumbs in her hands, giving them a shake. “Having a green thumb means you’re good with plants. It means that…you’re good at taking care of them and help them grow to their full potential.”

“I am?” His blue eyes get wider and shine brightly. Looking at his little plant, the one that was better than all the rest, he feels like it might be true.

His teacher sees his thoughtful expression and leans in to whisper encouragingly, “I’m sure it’s really grateful you helped it live.”

Viktor gasps softly he looks back up at his teacher with a wondrous expression on his face. It's was moment that Viktor would be able to look back on fondly and embarrassingly as he got older and remember how important he felt that day.

And at that moment, since he didn’t know what exactly he did right to help his tiny bean grow to be big and strong, he sets out to find out, checking out books from the library and having his parents help him look things up on the computer.

From there, a fascination with plants, flowers and everything and anything botanical springs up. Family walks to the park with Makkachin become more important than ever since Viktor also uses the time to adventure into the thick of the trees with his puppy where he studies the foliage and the kinds of wildlife that grows in different areas and what may help them grow.

At home, his mother buys him all sorts of different house plants and bags of seeds so he can grow in their backyard in the space his father cleared for him. They spend many weekend afternoons planting all sorts of different things and making notes of what fertilizers work better with what.

His parents aren’t entirely sure what to make of this new interest that has completely enraptured their son but it makes them so happy for Viktor to find something he’s so passionate about at such a young age and it does wonders for his confidence and ability to talk to people, he seems to make friends of all ages when he wants to learn more about a certain vegetation, even if it’s somebody he’s never met before.

Time passes by quickly and days seem to blend together until one day Viktor, at nine years old, finds himself realizing he’s kind of really happy. He has this revelation in the middle of checking up on his indoor plants with his mother one winter’s day.

“The azalea grew pretty nicely, don’t you think?” Ekaterina asks, admiring the blossoming pink flowers in their pot. She tilts her head towards her son, who is busy writing things down in a journal while inspecting the lavender on the window sill.

Viktor walks over, still writing, and studies the pretty flowers his mother pointed out. He lifts a hand to touch the petals of one and leans closer to get a good eye on their stem. After a second, he nods, declaring his approval and goes to write his findings out. “I think the new soil works better than the first one. It soaks in more water.”

“We have to make sure to keep buying that kind then,” She agrees, pushing herself up to stand. “Do we need to water them?”

“Hmmm,” He hums and moves some of the foliage around until he finds the dirt and presses his fingers into it. His mouth twists. “Yeah, they’re a little dry.”

“I’ll get it,” She moves towards the kitchen and Viktor watches her walk away fondly. His mother loves flowers more than the regular just green plants (“Although those do have their beauty in their own way,” She would say) so Viktor likes growing those more to see her happy. His dad, Alexei, loves anything that makes her smile so he gets gung-ho whenever Viktor begins to talk about growing a new kind of flower.

“He should be home soon…” He murmurs, looking at the large ornate clock on the wall.

“Who will?” His mother asks, catching his words as she comes back with the watering can full.

“Papa,” He answers and moves aside so she can get to the flowers.

That’s when the phone starts ringing, loudly, from the living on the other side of the house.

“That’s probably him, calling at the worst time,” She huffs and hands the watering can to her son. Placing her hands on her hips, she shakes her head dramatically. “Doesn’t he know we’re doing something important?! How dare he…” The phone keeps ringing and she realizes she’s letting it go for too long. “Crap, he’s gonna hang up!” She runs out of the room to catch the caller before they disconnect.

Viktor’s laughs loudly, throwing his head back. He hears her calling out to the ringing phone _Please don’t hang up, please, I’m coming_ until she finally gets to it. He turns to the flowers and dips the can inside to water them when something clicks in his head. Staring out the window, he realizes how at peace his heart feels. For the longest time, he remembers how it used to hurt before, a heavy weight in his chest that needed to be lifted and it finally it feels like it has.

Looking around at all the different pots with bright plants, vases with gorgeous flowers, and then out to their backyard garden, albeit momentarily covered in snow, Viktor recognizes that _this_ is his life and it feels…good. All the moments he has shared with his amazing parents and all his friends who he treasures so much—he might not have the perfect situation according the world they live in, to everyone else who doesn’t know him and assume he’s alone and miserable, but Viktor finally, _finally_ , understands that he’ll be just fine.

Which is why he finds it completely unfair that a few seconds later his mother comes up to him, completely in tears. He nearly drops the watering can in the process but he clutches it tightly to ground himself from freaking out.

“Viktor,” She chokes out, hand wavering around her mouth as she tries to regain control of her emotions.

His mind begins to race with a hundred different horrible things that could have possible happened to warrant such a reaction from his mother. His dad—he was driving home from work. Viktor’s heart lurches in a panic at the thought of anything having happened to his dad.

“T-they found them,” His mother stutters out once she’s calmed down a little. She wipes the tears away from her cheeks and it’s in that moment that Viktor realizes that while she is crying hard, they’re tears of joy and her mouth is stretched in a wide smile. “They found your Reliever.”

It’s _then_ that he does drop his watering can to the ground, along with his heart.

\--

A compatible Energy match does not mean true love, of any kind.

“Now boarding Group B.”

“Viktor, do you have your boarding pass?”

“It’s right here papa.”

“Ok good, just checking.”

Viktor knows this because recently Georgi and Anya have been fighting a lot to the point where they must be placed in different classes lest they cause a huge disruption during lessons and they charge by quickly touching hands while looking angry about it the entire time.

“Honey hand me your carry on, you get settled with Vitya.”

“Thanks darling. Viktor, come here sweetie.”

Also, recently he met two foreign kids from Italy during recess and while they’re in different grades and classes, they’re an Interchange match and Viktor is almost certain they’re not going to get married although they do love each other a lot.

“First time flying, are you scared?” His mother asks teasingly once they’re buckled up.

Viktor shakes his head and grins, “But even if I were, you couldn’t tease me about it because that would make you terrible parents.”

His mom snorts, “Wanna bet?”

Mostly he knows it doesn’t mean automatic love because when he heard the news about his newly found Reliever, he was so angry his hands wouldn’t stop shaking for the rest of the day and pretending he was crying later that night because he was happy instead of consumed with pure rage proved to be a little difficult. Even now, his heart beats hard at the thought of finally seeing his match face to face, and not in a good way.

“You know,” He starts off, licking his lips and hugging the jacket in his lap tightly. “We didn’t have drop everything to go right away. It was okay to think about it.”

It had been the craziest rush of events since his mother had gotten the call from the doctors. She had hung up too quickly once she was told Viktor’s Reliever has been located, in a rush to tell her son, and she instantly called back in a panic to gather every bit of information she needed. By the time his father had gotten home, Ekaterina was tearily trying to book all the accommodations. After hearing about what had occurred, Alexei had taken over and everything had been finished within the hour, three one-way airplane tickets and hotel booked for the city of Moscow, all for the next day.

“Think about it? Why would we think about it?” His mother furrow her eyebrows, putting back the airplane magazine she had been flipping through in its place.

“I dunno just,” He shrugs, trying to play it off as casually as he can. “I just don’t want to bother you guys. You work and have important things to do. Dropping it all for this…I don’t want to be a burden.”

“Viktor,” His dad puts his large hand over his, giving it a squeeze. “None of this is a bother or burden to us. We’ve been waiting for this day since you completely freaked us out back when you were just two years old.”

“You will be paying for it painfully for rest of your life,” His mother inserts.

“She’s not wrong,” Alexei nods somberly and Viktor can’t help but grin at his ridiculous parents. His dad squeezes his hand again to draw his attention and his blue eyes shine in earnest. “Viktor, we’re just as excited about this as you are. This is going to be, quite literally, a life changing trip.”

 _So why can’t I stop being angry?_   He asks himself, but he nods to his father’s words and pretends that he feels as euphoric as the two of them.

It’s a short flight, only a little bit over an hour, but his mom falls asleep almost instantly against the window (in all fairness, she had stayed up all night packing for the three of them) and Viktor tries to focus on the movie playing on the screen in front of him but his eyes keep moving to his dad who was busy typing away on his laptop, probably doing some work stuff. Still, his dad was the one who got in contact with his Reliever’s parents, he could also be talking to them.

After what he feels is forever, Viktor takes off his earphones and nudges his father. Alexei looks over, raising his eyebrows in question.

“Papa…what if,” He clears his throat, adjusting himself in his seat so he’s facing his dad more. “What if my partner and I don’t get along? What if he gets on my last nerves? Also, he lives in Moscow, that’s so far away from us, how is that going to work? Where are we meeting them? What will—”

“Vitya, breathe,” His dad closes his laptop and turns his body towards his son. Viktor does as he told, but quickly because who has time to breathe when he has a million questions. Alexei chuckles. “Good enough. Look, this trip is to figure all those little details out and they will work out, one way or another. As far as the more personal stuff, you won’t know until we meet them.”

Viktor stares at his dad for a long time then deadpans, “You’re not good at this.”

“Kiddo,” He says in sternly but it’s all in jest. “What’s mostly troubling you?”

“You heard all my questions.”

“Yes, but what’s the main thing?”

“What took them so long?” He blurts out, unable to stop himself. “Do you know? Why now? How am I supposed to get along with someone who is three years old?”

A bit of silence.

“Um, that’s the funny thing though,” His dad runs his fingers through his hair, looking sideways. He looked like he was internally debating whether to answer the question and Viktor knew it was because mom had decided to keep as much information about his Reliever a secret in order to make their first meeting as organic and normal as it would be if they had been younger but it was driving Viktor crazy. Finally, Alexei let’s out a small groan of defeat and mutters, “He’s not three. He’s seven.”

“It’s a boy,” Viktor whispers, a bit in awe of the information. To know even something that small made his stomach flutter and for the first time the anger he felt in his heart went away. If only for a moment though because then the pieces click in his head. “Wait…what do you mean he’s _seven_???”

“So, the age one becomes a Collector or a Reliever is three right,” He explains gently but quickly, his eyes dashing between Viktor and his wife, just in case she woke up. “Okay, so you became one early. He became one late. Up until yesterday morning, he wasn’t registered as either. Then a couple days ago, he passed out at school, just like you except his was from a _lack_ of Energy.”

“At the age of seven?”

“Yes.”

“They didn’t think it was weird that he didn’t have a partner?” He asks, trying to keep his voice from sounding hysteric despite his heart was quickly picking up speed again.

His father shakes his head. “No, apparently his grandfather just assumed he wasn’t either.”

“B-but...why?” The millions of questions he had had multiplied ten folds.

“They haven’t had a chance to examine it properly. First was getting him better and then putting his information in the data base,” Alexei informs him, “As soon as they realized it was a match with yours, priority was connecting the families. There are a lot of questions,” His father agrees, nodding and gesturing with his hands, trying to communicate that he understands what Viktor is feeling, “But we’re taking it one step at a time. The meeting is first, everything else will follow and fall into place.”

His father seems so sure of this fact it almost makes him feel better. Viktor nods, seemingly agreeing, and drops the questions. He might have an endless amount of them but his body has gone numb while his blood is pumping hard in his veins and loudly in his ears. The rest of the flight is a blur and he goes through the motions of following his parents out of the plane, to collect their luggage, getting Makkachin from cargo, getting in a taxi to the hotel and preparing for the big meeting.

The entire time, he’s inside his head. There’s so many things he’s unable to comprehend, he’s beginning to question the very fundamentals of Interchange and how it works. How simple genetics can decide, seemingly at random, that two people are going to be the singularly most important human beings to each other. How did Fate or Destiny decide that he was going to be alone for seven years of his life? Did someone in the great beyond believe a child couldn’t possibly feel deep loneliness? That he would be fine going day after day seeing others connect with each other in a way he couldn’t? It was so hard for him to pretend to be fine with his metallic Drainers taking his Energy as opposed to a person but he wasn’t, he hated it. And now, of all times, for his Reliever to suddenly appear and get Viktor right away.

“We’ll be meeting them at a park,” His mom tells him with a wink, slipping her shoes on.

He’s so angry.

Makkachin can probably tell because he keeps nuzzling into his face and licking at his chin, trying to get Viktor to play with him but the most his owner can do is run his hands numbly through his fur while his parents finish their final touches of getting ready. It almost feels like it’s their meeting day instead of his.

“You’re shaking Viktor, are you okay?” His father asks once they’re all set and heading out the door.

Viktor tightens his grip on Makkachin’s leash, nods and lies. “Just nervous.”

“Oh,” His mother coos, leaning down slightly and giving his temple a kiss. “It’s going to be great.”

He has a hard time believing that because all he can feel right now is fury in his heart. In the back of his head, he knows he’s being ridiculous. His partner, just like him, didn’t choose to become a Reliever at such a late age, but somehow it all feels like it’s _his_ fault for leaving Viktor alone for so long. He would have understood a little more if was only three years’ old and just recently became a Reliever but he hadn’t. His match had the luxury of assuming he wasn’t part of Interchange, he wasn’t waiting on anybody, he didn’t suffer like Viktor had suffered.

“Vitya, honey, we’re here,” His mother says in a tone that indicates this isn’t the first time she’s called out to him.

“Huh…” Viktor startles, he hadn’t even realized they had gotten into another taxi, much less driven somewhere and arrived. He feels his mouth run dry and his hands get clammier.

His dad nudges him, “Come on, let’s go.”

Viktor wants to say no but they open the door to his future without his opinion on the matter.

The park is quiet and covered with snow and has a huge brick pillar entrance that could be considered intimidating. There are patches of pure untouched ground and other areas, closer to the playground far in the distance, where it’s marked with footsteps of various sizes. Looking around, Viktor sees a few people walking across but no children playing. Makkachin’s tail is wagging, he seems perfectly happy to be there, a complete opposite from his owner.

“It seems we’re early,” His dad comments once he’s finished paying the taxi.

Viktor frowns, mumbling, “Of course he’s late again.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” He rolls his eyes and walks forward, his puppy leading the way.

His parents exchange worried glances, but say nothing. They sense that it’s best not to bother their son at the moment, he seems too nervous to be spoken to. They sit on a bench deep into the park and watch him and his dog walk around the playground several times. Minutes pass by and the park stays as empty as it was when they first arrived, give or take a few passersby.

After twenty minutes, Viktor goes over to his parents and stares at their feet. “I don’t think they're coming.”

Makkachin barks twice and, again, his parents exchange glances, worry etched on their faces. Makkachin barks, twice this time, and Viktor realizes he’s let an Energy headache build up around his temples. He takes off his gloves, Makkachin barks again, and reaches into his coat pocket where he put his Drainer despite his parents telling him he wasn’t going to use those ever again.

“Vitya…” His mom whispers, eyes sad, as her son brings the machine to his lips, but she doesn't have the words to fix things this time.

Makkachin barks loudly and pulls hard on his leash, surprising Viktor into letting go and he takes off running towards the entrance of the park.

“Makkachin!” He yells out, dropping his Drainer in surprise as he bolts after his poodle. He’s never seen Makkachin run away so fast, even when he chases after squirrels.

Cars are driving fast and constantly on the road in front of the park and Viktor’s head floods with worry that his little stupid puppy is going to run out in front of them. He can’t even imagine what would make Makkachin react in such a way until he goes around one the brick pillar at the gate and sees his dog on top of a small, lithe figure stretched out on the ground.

“S-stop, what are you doing?” The person cries but doesn’t forcefully push the dog away, simply stays on ground and wiggles a lot. “Who do you belong to? Get off! Stop licking!”

Makkachin doesn’t, his tail is wagging like crazy and he seems to be over the moon to be close to the small boy. Something goes off in Viktor’s head and time seems to slow down.

“Makkachin,” He calls out sternly as he can with his mouth feeling like it's filled with cotton balls. His dog stops pushing down on the other person and turns his head around, tilting it as if he’s done absolutely no wrong. “Here boy.”

Reluctantly, the poodle slowly gets off the boy and walks towards his owner, standing right by his side. Finally free, the boys sits up with a loud gasp and rubs at his saliva wet cheeks madly. Viktor’s eyes betray him because they automatically start taking in every detail of the boy greedily: his light blond hair is peeking across his forehead under his red hat, his eyes are huge and green but they seem to have flecks of blue, his peachy skin is on the paler side (probably because of the cold) but his nose is red and as are his cheeks, his lips are chapped and he’s glaring so angrily at Makkachin that Viktor wants to throw back his head and laugh.

“Your dog is crazy!” The boy cries out, throwing his arms in the air. He’s not wearing any gloves.

“Yeah well, you probably deserved it,” Viktor smirks and he hates that every single part of him is betraying him. He’s supposed to be angry, he’s supposed to take this time to yell and be mad and feel righteous but it just isn’t happening. He's still mad, he knows he's still so angry, but there is now no part of him that wants to hate the little boy.

“What are you looking at?” The blond finally notices that he’s staring and glares at him instead of Makkachin. “You’re a weirdo, aren’t you?”

“And you’re ridiculously late,” Viktor points out, and there's only a little bit of malice in his tone. The boy looks confused for a second but the knowing look on Viktor’s face hints at the answer. The blond boy’s cheek redden even more and his angry face becomes the slightest bit of shy.

Viktor reaches out his hand to help him up and winks, “I won’t hold it against you.”

The boy looks at it wearily for a few seconds before he takes it and Viktor hates it because it feels like coming home.


	2. Case I, Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first-time Yuri meets his Interchange match, he brings the Collector down to his knees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ending kind of got away from me, emotionally speaking...i really don't know how i'm going to fix it in the next chapter

If Yuri Plisetsky could use a word to describe the process of becoming a Reliever, it would be: annoying.

If he could use more than one word, he would choose: really annoying and really confusing.

Nobody’s really asking what he thinks of the entire situation or if he wanted to become a Reliever in the first place because if he had his way, he definitely would have said no. His grandfather tells him it doesn’t work that way, says it’s all genetics and Destiny or Fate and Life, but Yuri just thinks it’s all stupid and a big mess.  

He knows about Interchange vaguely, he sees the kids in his class depend on one another to be okay and it just seems like a lot of work to have to always to be close to someone else. Up until a few days ago, he didn’t need anybody to help him and then at the beginning of the week he began to get tired, like really tired. He would get home from school and eat something but go straight to sleep, maybe he was just sleepy—or growing, he could be growing too.

Nothing worked. No matter what he ate or did or how he slept and he didn’t want to bother his grandfather by telling him he didn’t feel good even though Nikolai kept asking and asking if everything was okay. Then one day he just couldn’t do it anymore and Yuri remembers trudging down the hallway to his classroom with his classmates, every step feeling like he weighed a million tons, and then everything goes white.

When he comes to, he’s in a hospital bed, still feeling a bit groggy but better than before, and his grandfather is sitting close by on a chair, reading a book in his lap. Yuri jolts, staying as quiet as he can possibly can, and pretends to still be asleep.

“So when I asked if you were feeling well,” His grandfather begins slowly, knowing his grandson all too well. “Were you lying to me?”

He scrunches his mouth and nose at getting caught but when he opens his eyes, Yuri keeps them focused on the white sheets covering his legs. He can’t stand to see his grandpa’s face, to see his clear disappointment.

“I’m an old man Yuratchka.”

“You’re not that old,” Yuri disagrees rapidly, but still doesn’t look up. He clenches and unclenches the sheets between his fingers, feeling his nose and eyes prickle like he’s going to cry.

“I won’t get any older if my grandson keeps taking years off my life,” Nikolai responds smoothly and closes the book on his lap, setting it in the corner of the bed where it doesn’t bother Yuri. He leans forward, “We don’t lie to family Yuri, never to family. I want you to be able to come to me when anything is wrong and we’ll fix it as best we can, okay?”

His grandpa has always been able to say the smartest things. Yuri nods and mumbles, because he hates hates _hates_ upsetting his grandfather, “I’m so sorry.” He finally looks up and is shocked to see a calm smile on his grandfather’s face, no anger or disappointment whatsoever. “Why aren’t you madder?”

A long sigh. “Because kiddo, I’m got news for you,” Nikolai says and pauses ever so slightly, “You’re a Reliever Yuri.” His grandson goes perfectly still but doesn’t say anything, just stares at him like a deer in headlights. The grandfather expected the reaction so he continues, “You passed out from a lack of Energy. The doctors gave you General Charge to hold you over until they can find your Collector.”

Yuri stares at him for a long time and then shakes his head, frowning. “No.”

He doesn’t get a say in it afterwards because his grandfather tells him the doctors have already gotten his information and frequency levels so they’ve already put him the Register and all that’s left to do is wait for a match. They say it’s _almost_ unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, a child going into Interchange at seven years old, but recently there was one other case that was just as bizarre. 

On top of that, the doctors go and lie to them, to which Yuri _knows_ they’re not family but still feels betrayed. They originally tell them that it could take a while to find an Interchange match but by the time Yuri’s changed and ready to be released from the hospital, the nurse and doctor come back frantically to speak to his grandpa, rushing him out of the room to give him the information and somehow, he ends up with a Reliever by lunchtime.

Apparently, it’s a huge deal because the doctors were freaking out but Yuri is still stuck on the fact that he was promised days, maybe months, before he would have to meet the person he’d basically be attached to. It all sucks, it all just really sucks. Yuri was happy just as he was, free and independent unlike everyone else and now he was stuck with somebody he’s never met before and probably will not like because people suck. Except for his grandpa.

“Who even is he?” Yuri asks, from his chair on their small kitchen table, to his grandfather who is busy making lunch. The only good thing about today was that he was excused from going to school so now he would get to eat his grandpa’s delicious pirozhki instead of dumb school food.

“The file is right there in front of you if you want to see,” Nikolai says as he stands over a sizzling skillet, wooden spatula in hand.

Yuri gasps and launches for the folder in the middle of the table. He pulls out the two sheets of paper and all he sees is long words and absolutely no pictures. “I can’t read this!!!!” He exclaims, feeling deceived.

“Give me a second.” He reaches over and turns off the stove tops and it feels like forever as his grandpa gets everything ready to eat. He finally sits down at the table, setting a plate piled with pirozhkis in front of Yuri and warns, “Be careful, they’re hot” Which his grandson completely ignores because he takes two of them and starts chomping quickly, despite the evident white smoke coming off them.

Nikolai chuckles, shaking his head, and slides the paper towards him. He reads out loud, “His name is Viktor Nikiforov.”

“Gross name,” Yuri mumbles out between huge bites, making a face, whether because of the information or because his mouth probably feels like it’s on fire, Nikolai isn’t sure.

“He lives in St. Petersburg.”

“Where’s that?”

“Far,” Is all his grandfather answers before he keeps going. “And he became a Collector at…” He pauses and squints hard at the paper, almost like he can’t believe what he’s reading. After a second, he finally says it, a little in awe. “At two years old.”

Yuri swallows hard and it hurts his throat a little, “He’s only two?!”

“He’s nine, Yuratchka,” He corrects and he seems really fascinated by the paper in front of him.

“So he’s _older_ than me?” The grandson glares, looking even more agitated by the new bit of information.

His grandpa looks up, one eye brow raised. “Nothing about this is going to make you happy, is it?”

“No,” The little blond shakes his head furiously and his grip tightens on his food to the point where the filling starts to squirt out of the bread then he thinks better of it and stuffs it into his mouth.

Nikolai watches as his grandson keeps eating for a bit before reading through the papers, eyes landing on the contact information. He asks, “Should we reach out to them?”

“No.” Yuri answers back lighting fast, sounding absolute. His grandpa looks at him a little exasperatedly and he cowers ever so slightly, reluctantly saying, “Later I guess.”

The day continues relatively as normal as it can, Yuri mostly tries to pretend none of it is happening as he plays with his toys or colors or watches TV and tries to enjoy his last day alone. He knows his grandpa should be going back to sleep because he has a night shift at the factory later that night but Nikolai stays up and plays with him and helps him with his homework.

Around five o’clock though, his grandfather declares he should start getting ready to go. Yuri also begins to get his things together for going over to the Svorski’s apartment for the night. Mrs. and Mr. Svorski are the sweet, kind of crazy couple one from floor up from them and they’ve been taking care of Yuri for a year now when his grandpa started taking extra night hours at his job, Yuri is only okay with it because they have five cats and one of them only has three legs and one eye, her name is Petunia and she’s his favorite ever.

Just as they’re about to head out the door though, the phone rings loud and clear. His grandpa tells him to wait a second while he goes to answer it and Yuri starts counting the seconds in in head. After he gets to too many seconds and doesn’t know the numbers anymore, he huffs and stomps his way into the apartment to grab his grandpa but stops short when he catches a bit of the conversation.

“No, you’re not sounding desperate at all, I understand the urgency,” Nikolai says lowly into the phone, his hand holding a pen and working fast across the notepad they keep by the phone. “Yuri gets home around two or so. Yes, in the afternoon would be better. Um…no, not here…it would be too—yes, exactly.”

There’s silence as Nikolai listens to the person on the line and Yuri realizes he’s probably speaking to the parents of the Collector, if not the Collector himself.

“Oh, there’s this park,” He suddenly says, “It’s Yuri’s favorite place to go, I think that would be perfect.” It makes Yuri wants to scream a little because the big gated park is his favorite place and now it was going to be seen by his probably annoying Collector. “Yes five o’clock sound great…No, there’s only the one number. Sorry about that that. All right, sounds good. See you tomorrow then.”

Yuri runs back to the door before his grandfather can catch him. They walk together up the stairs and on the way, Nikolai informs him of the conversation he had and Yuri pretends to hear it all for the first time, fight him on it and complain but in the end, he “agrees”.

He’s not mad at his grandpa or anything like that, he knows that Nikolai did what he had to do probably. Still, Yuri can’t help but feel a bit cheated. He could have been so happy living a life with just him and his grandpa, he didn’t need friends or other people. Other people suck and other people leave you, even if they’re supposed to love you. Genetics and Interchange weren’t guarantee for love, maybe for all other people but Yuri knows he’s different. Finding his match, meeting him…it was just going to be another person who would be disappointed by Yuri and leave him all by himself.

**-**

The first-time Yuri meets his Interchange match, he brings the Collector down to his knees.

Which is surprising because Yuri’s the one who is very much exhausted after his walk from the apartment to the park and his hands feel like they might fall off because he had forgotten his gloves back home. It always seemed like such a short walk when his grandfather was with him but he felt like it had taken forever to get there today that he did it by himself.

He had felt dizzy and a little sick when he had finally seen the large brick pillar gates that he took a moment to catch his breath against them. It wasn’t at all because he was nervous to be meeting someone that was going to be an important part of his life, not in the least. That’s what he told himself anyways.

In the distance, he heard a dork barking but thought nothing of it until he stood up, ready to go into the park, and was pushed back down by a large brown animal that began to slobber all over him. It wasn’t frightening, but it was sudden and irritating and he had absolutely no strength to fight the dog off and couldn’t do much but loudly voice his complaints.

After a second or ten, he heard someone call the dog back and he was finally set free. It seemed to take all his strength to push himself up but he manages somehow.

“Your dog is crazy,” He cries out, glaring at the poodle who is looking far too innocent and happy for an animal who just basically attacked a child.

“Yeah well you probably deserved it,” Is the snarky reply he gets back from its owner.

Yuri feels his eye twitch and he turns sharply to yell at the rude owner but as soon as he lays on him, his mouth shuts close and his mind short circuits.

 _Pretty_ , is the first thing his stupid brain thinks once it’s able to work again. The owner of the dog is really pretty.

“What are you looking at?” He glares because yes, he might be staring but the owner is staring right back with a knowing expression on his face. Yuri doesn’t like it. “You’re a weirdo, aren’t you?”

“And you’re ridiculously late,” The owner snips back and the way he says it makes it seem like he knows something Yuri doesn’t.

The blond boy searches his face, his eyes are a beautiful blue color they’re kind of cold, his grin is more of a smirk and there’s a strange, guarded feel to him, but there’s _something_ about him. Yuri would never be able to explain how, without any real hints or facts, he realized so quickly that the boy was his Collector, he just knew.

“I won’t hold it against you.” The boy winks once he knows Yuri’s made the connection and he reaches out to pull him up. The younger boy fights the urge to flee, mostly because he hardly has the energy to get up much less run down the street, and stares at the hand in front of him. They look cold, so Yuri decides to take it.

Their hands touch and they’re both absolutely freezing but it’s unlike anything he could ever imagine.

If he could describe it, _if_ —it kind of feels like his hand has fallen asleep, the soft prickles and tickles of trying to move it begins strongly where their hands connect but then it fades out into pure warmth all through his body, but a hundred times better. As he’s pulled up, Yuri feels strength coming back to him, any fatigue is gone and all the dizziness clears away. He meets the Collector’s eyes and sees that the older boy is just as shocked as he is. They’re still holding hands but neither of them make a move to let go.

That is, until the older boy gasps, his knees buckle, and he drops to the ground on his knees, breathing heavily. Yuri steps back, shocked, yet feeling good as new.

“Viktor?!” A deep voice calls out and a few seconds later a tall man runs out from around the gate. He stops when he sees the boy on the ground and his face becomes completely panicked, he launches himself down near the boy. “What happened? Viktor, what’s wrong?”

“P-papa,” The boy whispers and signals for his father to come closer. The dad puts his face near his son’s and Viktor leans into it, mumbling tiredly. “He’s m-my Reliever.”

The father jolts back, surprised. He looks down at his son then back at Yuri then back at his son for a few seconds and even once at the poodle who, Yuri now notices, is inching closer to him again.

At last, the father nods like everything makes sense. “Ah yes, so that’s how it is.”

 _I could run now_ , Yuri manages to think right before the poodle pounces on him again.

\- -

“Is he dead?” Yuri asks, using his shoe to kick Viktor’s leg from where it hangs over the bench he’s sitting on.

They had moved from the front gate into the actual park to have the Collector sit down to catch his breath. Yuri doesn’t exactly know how but he ends up holding onto the dog’s, Makkachin’s, leash. The poodle seems pretty happy now, he’s just laying at his feet, tail wagging.

“Um…no,” Viktor’s mom answers, “The doctors warned us something like this would have, Viktor is used to having his Energy taken by a Drainer—ah,” She pauses when Yuri makes a face and reaches into her pocket to pull out a small machine, “—Drainer, see. It’s a machine and doesn’t take the Energy as…organically as an Interchange. To experience an actual Energy exchange for the first time was going to feel really a different and might have, well, this of effect on him.”

“So I didn’t…take too much Energy or something?” He’s not worried or anything, it just seems right to ask.

The mom giggles and shakes her head, “That will never happen. See,” She turns her body towards him and uses her hands as she speaks. “When a match exchange Energy, their Wavelengths connect and Energy goes from the Collector to the Reliever. However, if a match holds hands or kisses, like they’re going to exchange but there’s no need for it, then their Wavelengths will not connect. Does that make sense?”

Yuri scrunches his nose, “So how do you know when you need to exchange?”

“Instinct…” The dad answers hesitantly, glancing at his wife for approval. She nods, he grins. “Yeah, instinct.”

“Who’s that?” In all he’s heard about Interchange, though not much, he’s never heard of anyone named Instinct telling people when they need to exchange.

“N-no,” The father stifles a laugh, not wanting to seem rude. “It’s like a feeling? Like you just _know_. You guys won’t get it at first because it’s so new to you,” He gestures between Yuri and his still not feeling well son, “You might let yourself get too tired before you realize you need Energy, Viktor might store Energy much longer than he probably should. Eventually you both will know when you need what. It comes with time.”

Everything they say just proves what Yuri has been thinking all along, this whole Interchange thing sounds confusing and stupid. He looks at his Collector, studies him probably more than he should. He takes in Viktor’s features a little more this time: his silver hair looks soft and softly curls a little past his shoulders, his face somehow has more baby fat than Yuri’s and his long, pale eyelashes flutter against his cheeks as he blinks. It’s hard to look away from him and he’s definitely prettier than any girl or boy Yuri has ever seen.

“So you’re Yuri Plisetsky,” The mom suddenly says and Yuri startles, turning quickly to look at the woman whose focus is on him. Her eyes are really kind and her smile is sweet. She reaches out a hand to shake his and when Yuri puts his in hers, it’s warm and soft. “We’ve been waiting so long to meet you. My name is Ekaterina and this is my husband, Alexei.” She looks at the tall man proudly and he smiles back just as darling.

Then, Alexei asks the thing Yuri had been hoping they would overlook. “Yuri, where’s your grandfather?”

“He’s um,” He rubs his nose with the back of his free hand and sniffles, “He’s not here.” He glances away, hoping that is the end of that.

“Seriously,” Viktor groans out, in a tone that feels like he read Yuri’s mind. The nine-year-old looks at him with critical eyes, looking a little better. “That’s your answer?”

“Looks like somebody’s regaining their strength,” Alexei teases, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder and jostling it light. “Where’s all your spunk kiddo? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go so long being quiet.”

“Honey don’t tease or else I’ll remember the fact that a certain someone cried for ten minutes straight the first time we exchanged,” Ekaterina sing-songs to her husband mischievously. “And that certain someone was the Reliever, not the Collector.”

“We were three and it felt funny,” The dad hisses softly at his wife, who laughs in return, and rubs one of his arms with his hand.

Yuri looks between the three of them and feels a little like awkward, like he doesn’t entirely belong with them. True, it’s because he doesn’t but technically speaking, he’s supposed to. Viktor is his match and by default there’s supposed to be a certain closeness that comes with the roles. That’s probably why Interchange begins when kids are young, so two lives are so easily blended together from nearly the very beginning and there aren’t awkward feelings like these he feels.

“So Yuri, where is he?” Alexei asks again, just as casually and genuinely curious.

“He’s…he just didn’t come.” The seven-year-old shrugs, squeezing the leash in his hands tightly.

“What do you mean?” Ekaterina tilts her head, confused.

“I don’t mean anything, he’s just not here,” His tone is getting defensive and he’s starting to feel a little attacked.

Which, of course, would be when the roaring, angry voice of his grandfather is heard from across the park.

“YURI. PLISETSKY!”

“Oh there he is…” He mumbles, a little dead inside now.

They all turn towards the front and see a disheveled older man with a red face, no coat or gloves and a hat haphazardly thrown on his head. He takes a second before he starts half running, half stomping his way towards them.

“Grandpa, wait, um,” Yuri hands the leash to the mother and starts walking towards his grandfather to meet him halfway.

When they do meet, Nikolai grabs Yuri by his shoulders tightly and shakes him a little. The distress is evident in face and he looks even more exhausted than when Yuri left him last. Maybe turning off his alarm clock wasn’t the most brilliant idea in the universe. Even Yuri was starting to suspect he hadn’t thought all the details out.

“What were you thinking???” Nikolai cries, hands still tight on his shoulders.

Yuri shakes his head, “Nothing, just go home!” It’s useless to try and push him away but he does anyway.

“What you did was completely irresponsible and reckless, you could have gotten hurt!” He’s on a roll, and while he’s not exactly yelling, there’s still a heavy level of authority to his voice, “Why did you do it? What were you thinking?”

Tears start swimming in his eyes, “I just wanted—”

“Yuri, you could have been kidnapped, or a car could have run you over, you could have gotten hurt or lost” He lets him go and runs both hands in through his head in exasperation, “What could you have possibly been thinking that would make you do such a thing?!”

“You’re _so_ tired,” Yuri blurts out, covering his eyes with his hands as if he could hide the fact that he’s crying. He breathes hard, little hands trembling and lip quivering. “You didn’t get enough rest because of what happened, y-you didn’t sleep yesterday and you weren’t going to today with e-everything happening,” He pauses for a second to catch his breath, his crying overwhelming him, “I didn’t want to cause you more problems!”

It’s suddenly quiet and the only thing Nikolai can hear is his breathing and some crazy birds chirping in the dead branches above. He looks at his little grandson standing in front of him, trying his hardest not to cry while doing a very bad job of it, and remembers how terrified he was when he woke up and found him gone and then angry when he realized where his grandson had gone all by himself. All that doesn’t really matter at this point though.  

“Yuratchka,” He shakes his head fondly, sighing at length as he gets down on his knees despite the snow and tries to meet the blonde’s eyes. When he does, Yuri’s relieved there’s no anger in them. “This is a learning experience okay?”

He nods, frantically, to show he has learned his lesson and feels more tears quickly gathering in his eyes.

Nikolai nods with him with a little less force, “But it’s never going to happen again, correct?”

More fierce nodding. He wipes at his snotty nose with the back of his sleeve and asks carefully, “You’re not mad?”

“Not anymore,” The grandfather answers helplessly, chuckling a bit.

Yuri sobs, heart feeling too much, “Why?”

“Because it was Yuratchka logic,” Nikolai whispers, so no one else can hear, bringing his grandson close. “And Yuratchka logic is always pure and good.” He envelopes his little boy in a tight hug and Yuri clings right back, hands clutching at his shirt tightly.

For a second, he had been scared, so scared that his grandfather was going to give up on him. All he wanted was Nikolai to get some rest, he had been pushing it lately with all the extra shifts and overnight, Yuri could see it on his face. This Interchange meeting, he could have done it on his own, he knew the way to the park. It had seemed too easy to just turn off the alarm clock once his grandpa fallen asleep for a short while before they were supposed to leave together for the park. Dressing himself was easy, though he had forgotten his gloves, and while the walk felt like forever, he had made it, hadn’t he? He didn’t think about the consequences or what happens after the meeting, he just didn’t want to disturb his grandfather more than he had. In that, he ended up almost giving him a heart attack.

He's a lot embarrassed how things turned out and luckily his grandfather is smart and always knows what to do because instead of letting him go, Nikolai simply picks him up and lets him rest against his shoulders, letting him hide from the Nikiforovs who had been watching warily in the relatively close distance. It didn’t matter what his grandpa ever said, he was big and strong and not old in the very least.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” Nikolai apologies as he walks towards the family, arms full of Yuri.

“Oh no, please,” Ekaterina shakes her head, her tone and eyes full of understanding. She presses a hand to her heart, “You should have seen me the day Viktor became a Collector, I was hysterical.”

“She’s serious,” Alexei adds, stepping right beside her and placing a hand at the small of her back. “She may or may have not threatened a pregnant woman.”

“I definitely threatened a pregnant woman,” She mumbles, tilting her head sideways.

Nikolai smiles warmly and extends his free hand. “I’m Nikolai Plisetsky, it’s a pleasure to meet you,”

“Alexei and Ekaterina,” The father accepts the hand, shaking firmly. “Nikiforov, obviously. And that’s Viktor over there.”

All the adults turn their attention to the Collector, which also gives time for Yuri to glance over to look at him again and is surprised to find Viktor staring directly back at him with an unreadable expression on his face. It’s only for a millisecond though because then he turns and introduces himself to the grandfather as if nothing happened. Yuri goes back to hiding against Nikolai’s shoulder and the adults resume their conversation.

“I know you didn’t want to meet on personal ground,” Alexei begins, treading cautiously. “But would you like to go back to your place? Considering you don’t have a coat and it’s freezing.”

Nikolai smiles, amused by the dad, “Yes I suppose that’ll be best.” He clears his throat and adjusts Yuri against his chest better. “But please don’t expect much, I’m afraid we live quite modestly, if one could call it that.”

The entire walk to the apartment, Yuri has to keep his eyes closed and head tucked into his grandpa’s neck because every time he looks up, he meets Viktor’s eyes, staring at him and it makes him nervous. The adults don’t seem to notice and chat amicably, they seem to be getting along great and he supposes that’s good. Still, despite being the first person to say he is opposed to this entire thing, his heart feels heavy with regret. Apparently, there was a small, very small, part of him that was hoping for…something better, whatever that is, but everything is stilted and awkward and it only makes for hardening his heart.

**-**

Viktor didn’t know what he was expecting when they arrived at the Plisetsky’s apartment but apparently, whatever it was, he wasn’t prepared for the actual thing. The apartment building itself is old and a little rundown, bricks broken off here and there and the paint had long been peeled off. The Plisetsky apartment was on the second floor and inside it was neat and warm but the entire thing could easily fit in the first floor of the Nikiforov’s house and still leave room for more. He feels ashamed of himself for feeling surprised especially when his parents don’t even bat an eyelash.

Once inside the apartment, Yuri is put down and scurries off somewhere and he can’t have gone too far considering the place is so small but Viktor doesn’t follow until his parents suggest he go with his Reliever while the adults talk and even then, he doesn’t really do what he’s told. He goes into the hallway leading to the only bedroom and bathroom and sees that the bedroom door is closed which is probably where Yuri is. He decides to sit in the hallway, arms wrapped around his knees, listening to the adult’s conversation.

They talk about themselves to begin with, things Viktor already knows about this parents, and other pleasantries that he doesn’t really care for. The entire time, Viktor finds his mind drifting to his plants and flowers, wondering if they were going to be okay and making a list of the ones he needs to check on first once they get home. When the conversation gets into the thing he’s actually interested in hearing about, he tunes in.

“So, it’s a bit of an odd situation we have here, isn’t it?” Alexei starts getting into the thick of it and he gets agreeable looks from the other two.

“I don’t think I ever heard of anything like it,” Ekaterina adds, “And I have done countless research, it really is a first in history. If anything like this has ever occurred, nobody has said anything.”

“A two-year-old becoming a Collector,” Nikolai gives a low whistle, “How was that?”

“Horrifying,” She whispers after a moment, her mind replaying the day perfectly memorized in her head, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life. I mean, it was so easy to diagnose and heal but the moments that we had no idea what it was and Viktor passed out—I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. You’re prepared when they turn three, not at two.”

“Nikolai,” Alexei clears his throat, setting his elbows on the table top and leaning in slightly. “With Yuri, you never really thought it was odd that he wasn’t part of Interchange at three?”

The grandfather let’s out a long sigh and shakes his head, “I really didn’t.” He looks past Alexei’s shoulder at the framed pictures of his grandson on the wall. “I remember the days leading up his birthday, I was monitoring him like crazy. But then that passed, and another day passed and soon months and a year. I’m not sure why I assumed the genetic had just skipped him and he wasn’t part of Interchange at all.”

Alexei furrows his eyebrows. “And you never took him to get checked?”

“My priority has always been having Yuri live a life as happily and normal as possible,” He admits slowly, with honest feeling in his words. “Putting him in the spotlight, making him feel different or like he didn’t belong. Having doctors question and prod and expose, I wasn’t going put him through that.” Viktor’s parents have an odd look on their faces and Nikolai smiles ruefully, “I’m assuming you didn’t have that luxury.”

“It’s odd to think that as a luxury isn’t it,” The mother looks at the brown table, thinking of her son. She bites her lip and shakes her head, “But no, you’re right. It has definitely been a struggle of ours.” Her husband and her exchange meaningful looks before she turns to Nikolai and states, “Which is why I hope you understand that now that we have meet, I would very much…I think it’d be best if you…if we could—”

“Keep them together.” Nikolai says for her, nodding. “What did you have in mind?”

“We’d like it if you would move with us to St. Petersburg,” The father supplies, struggling to meet Nikolai’s eyes in nervousness. “Kat and I already started looking at houses with more bedrooms, all in excellent districts. O-or if you would like your own privacy, we can tour apartments or smaller houses nearby so the kids can stay close. You can stay at our house meanwhile.”

“That’s—“

“We can get Yuri enrolled in the same school as Viktor, it is such a good school,” Ekaterina takes over, sounding just as enthusiastic if not a little nervous as well. “There are so many activities and clubs and the teachers are wonderful. The middle school and high school that follow are also so great, I’ve heard nothing but good things. And there’s so many things to do around the city.”

“But if you’d like to stay in Moscow, we can completely consider that,” Alexei takes over again, “I’ve been here before on business and I think it’s fantastic so we can totally make a life here. Just…just let us know what you’d like to do.”

There’s a long moment of silence where Nikolai just stares at the parents in shock and even the pair seem a bit surprised at themselves.

Finally, Ekaterina full body cringes and slaps a hand against her forehead. “We sound insane, don’t we?”

“You sound like parents who are willing to do anything for their child who has been put in the weirdest situation our world can produce,” The grandfather reassure although he still feels a little overwhelmed. “I admire your passion, but won’t all this be a financial burden to you?”

“Moving here would _possibly_ would,” Alexei admits easily, looking at his wife who nods in agreement. “But all the other options, we’re more than…equipped to handle them.” It was one of the more tactful ways to admit that money wasn’t ever going to be an issue.

Nikolai flushes. “I wouldn’t want to seem like I’m taking advantage of you.”

“Nikolai, may I be frank?” The father asks, his voice stronger and more sure. “We heard what Yuri said. About you being tired, about taking extra shifts, and we can automatically tell, we _know_ you’ve been doing it all for Yuri. We admire your determination to give your grandson everything, it moves our hearts. So let us help you. We can take care of you and Yuri, we want take care of you two.”

“I can’t seem to wrap my mind around it.” The grandfather let’s out a shaky breath,

“Gosh, this entire thing is a huge can’t-wrap-my-mind-around-it,” Ekaterina sighs at length, “But think of it as Interchange. Genetics, Life, or Destiny put us in each other’s path. If we were different people in different situations, it might not have worked out but that’s not the case. It’s such a weird circumstance but there _must_ be a reason for it, I refuse to believe there isn’t. And what it comes down to right now is that we all want the best for our children. I’ve read Yuri’s profile a million times since it came in and I want to know him, and you, a million times better.”

“I’d get a job,” Nikolai assures and his voice is thick with feeling. He swallows hard, “I wouldn’t want it to be where Yuri and I are free loading.”

“We’d never think of it that way,” Alexei disagrees, hand twitching, wanting to move and cover Nikolai’s in comfort. “But you’re more than free too, we’ll help you find something.”

The grandfather wipes away a tear he didn’t know had gathered in his eye. “And I’d like you to decide where we live, where you would like us best.”

“We’d love it if you lived with us,” Ekaterina replies without pause, knowing the answer in both her and her husband’s hearts. “We honestly loved the houses we looked at so much, the more we searched, the better the idea seemed. I know it seems a little excessive if not drastic but I like to think about it as an adventure. One that we can start together.”

And that’s it, the future has been set. They start planning how the transition will be made but Viktor doesn’t stick around to hear all that. He sighs softly and pushes himself off the ground and trudges to the closed bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, he puts his hand against it and pushes it open. The room is smaller than Viktor’s at his home, there’s one huge bed pushed to one corner with many quilts, blankets and pillows. On the other side, under the window, is sturdy wooden desk strewn with papers and pencils and next to it a small desk for a child, bare except for a small cup with broken crayons. The only other thing in the room was a raggedy scratched dresser, a red coat and hat thrown carelessly on the floor, and his Reliever, on the ground against the bed, a well-worn out orange stuffed cat in his hands.

As soon as Yuri sees it’s his Collector at the door, he rapidly hides the stuffed animal behind his back, under the bed, but says absolutely nothing to the nine-year-old. Only the soft voices of the adults in the kitchen can be heard.

Viktor swallows hard and asks the question lingering on his mind since they first touched, “You don’t like me, do you?”

“I don’t know you,” Yuri answers quietly, looking at his feet outstretched in front of him and nowhere else.

“Okay so…you don’t like this,” He signals between the two of them. “Being an Interchange match.” His Reliever says nothing and it’s so frustrating. “You can say it.” He assures like he doesn’t care and braces himself for the truth.

“No, I don’t like it,” Yuri finally admits, voice quiet but sharp and angry. “I really hate it.” It stings a lot more than Viktor was prepared for. Yuri doesn’t seem to notice the hurt look on his face, simply tilts his head and takes his silence as agreement, “Do you hate it too?”

He lets out a shaky breath, heart beating loudly in his ears. “A little bit yeah.”

“We can tell them that, can’t we?” The seven-year old’s eyes light up all of a sudden, seeming happy with the news he just head. A complete opposite of Viktor. He clumsily gets on his feet and walks towards his Collector, for the first time since they met he seems excited for the possibility. “We can tell them that we don’t like this and they can fix it?”

“That’s not how it works,” Viktor snaps, pushed to the limit, hurt and angry. “We can’t just say we don’t like it and it goes away, this is forever. We’re stuck like this, whether we like it or not!” His hands ball up into fists. “Why did you go alone to our meeting? What did you think was going to happen after we met? We were going to exchange and we’d go our separate ways?!” 

“I don’t—“

“That’s right, you don’t know, you don’t know _anything_ ,” Viktor cuts him off and he is probably being a little unfair to the kid, after all he has no idea what Viktor’s been through. “You were only thinking about yourself. You have no idea—ugh.”

His brain is becoming mush because he was about to admit that even though he’s angry, even though he’d been alone, even though he had no idea where Yuri was or who he was, Viktor had missed him so much. It was ridiculous, missing someone he’s never met before but it’s the truth. From the moment they touched hands, Viktor knew he had missed this dumb little kid who would cross the city in order for his grandfather to have a few more minutes of sleep.

“Why did it have to be you?” He whispers harshly to the ground, unable to look his Reliever in the eye and therefore misses the pure wounded look on the blond’s face. “Why did you have to be like this?”

“You’re right,” Yuri says after a long moment and it surprises Viktor how chilly his voice is. He looks up to meet his gaze and his green eyes are pure ice. “I was only thinking of me and that’s because I don’t care about you. At all.”

They both stand in stun upset silence of their own making, glaring at each other as if trying to blown up each other’s heads off. When they hear footsteps coming down the hallway and the adults crowd around the door, they know better than to voice their complaints about the entire match. While they may strongly dislike each other, their love for their respective guardians outweighs everything else.

“We have news for you kiddos,” Alexei announces, completely oblivious to the mood in the room.

They both turn to look at the adults at the same time.

Ekaterina looks between them, beaming, but furrows her eyebrows once she sees their pouty frowns, “Why do you two look so miserable?”

Probably because they were, but it had to count for something that they were miserable together.


	3. Case I, Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not very good...but it's been forever since i updated (lack of inspiration) and i just wanted to put something out. i really wanted to wrap up their childhood in this chapter but it's gonna take one more. i can't promise to update super fast but i swear i'll never forget or leave this story

Being angry all the time is exhausting.

Viktor is surprised to find that he prefers having been occasionally really sad about not having a Reliever than having to be angry all the time, _especially_ when he sees his Reliever—which happens to be a whole freaking lot considering they are living together and even attend the same school now. It’s almost like a competition between the two of them, to see who is angrier than the other, who will crack first.

“So let me get this straight,” Georgi says one day during recess after Viktor had told his story of woe to get some sympathy from his best friend. They were on the swings and ordinarily they would be surrounded by a group of their friends but Viktor had made it known he wanted to be alone that day and nobody blinked twice, they had simply scattered. “Basically, you want to be mad at Yuri but you don’t want Yuri to be mad at you?”

“Exactly!” He throws his hands in the air, finally someone understands. To be fair, it’s not like he’s told anyone how he’s feeling. In front of his parents, Viktor and Yuri are civil and can be seen as just two kids who don’t know each other very well, and it hasn’t gotten to the point where he feels like he needs to talk to them.  Besides, he has his best friend who understands him.

Except the expression on Georgi’s face clearly says he doesn’t. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It’s not about what’s fair, it’s about what’s right,” Viktor rolls his eyes, kicking some gravel with the tip of his shoe.

“I think it’s the same thing,” Georgi whispers, more to himself but part of him hopes Viktor catches on. He doesn’t. He sighs loudly, exhaustedly. “Okay, tell me again.”                                                                                                                               

“I was angry first, but then I wasn’t,” Viktor explains once more, pushing his feet against the ground and swinging. “For like a second. But then he did something and I was angry again and he got mad about that and we said stuff and now we’re not really talking.”

“All right so why were you angry in the first place? Why did it stop? And what did he do?” His friend asks, eyes scanning the other kids playing on the playground, probably looking for Anya.

“It’s not important” That’s a lie, Viktor knows, he just doesn’t really want to say it.

Georgi looks even more confused than before but then says, “Don’t be stupid, you have to be more specific than that!”

He realizes then that maybe Georgi wasn’t the best person to talk to on the matter, he’d always been a little more emotional and attune to others feelings, wanting to understand all sides of situations before taking sides and sometimes not taking sides at all. It doesn’t help that close friends or not, Viktor doesn’t really want to tell anyone what is going through his head. Partially because it doesn’t make sense to him either.

“I’m just as lost as you are,” He admits softly, pushing his hair out of his face. And he knows it’s a long shot, but he asks anyways, “Was it hard for you and Anya to get along? Before, obviously, not right now.”

“No,” He shakes his head instantly, eyes finally locking on Anya in her group of giggly friends on the other side of the park. As if she knows he’s watching, she looks up and meets his eyes, waving fondly his way. He smiles back, lighthearted and sweet. This week, they’ve been on good terms. “Anya’s just always been there. It was easy because we were super little, y’know, I don’t remember life before her. We don’t get along sometimes but she’s my Reliever so there’s that connection bigger than everything ever since we met.” It dawns on him what he just said and turns to Viktor in a panic to fix it, putting his hands out in front of him. “N-not that you and Yuri don’t have a connection or anything! It just might take a while to get there!”

Viktor breathes in slowly, eyes sad, “No, you’re right. We don’t have a connection. Not an instant, bigger than anything one anyways.” He presses his hands on his temples and groans at the pressure built up there. “I’ve got a headache.”

It’s quiet for a moment, neither boys say anything until Viktor shoots up from the swing like a grasshopper. “I have a headache. Crap.” And he starts running as fast as he can back into the school. Classmates stop and stare as he zooms by but his mind is set on one thing. Luckily, the first graders are on the first floor so he only makes a couple hallway turns before he arrives at his destination just as the door to the classroom opens slightly to reveal Yuri’s teacher.

“Ah Mr. Nikiforov, there you are,” She smiles wisely and signals at someone behind her quickly. “I was just about to send for you.”

“I-Is he okay?” Viktor asks despite his better judgment, a little winded from running so fast.

The teacher nods, “He’s perfectly fine, just a little tired. Nothing an Exchange won’t fix. Come in.”

She swings the door open and Viktor walks into the classroom. Only a few students look up and notice him, others are busy working and having too much fun to care about an upperclassman. They shuffle their way between tables until they arrive where Yuri is sitting slightly hunched at his desk but otherwise motionless. He’s breathing very slowly and his eyes are closed and there’s a tiny girl with red hair basically laying across his desk, poking at his cheek with his index finger.

“Yuuuuri, can you feel this,” She giggles and switches from poking to pinching the chubby bits of his cheeks, stretching them out.

“I’m sure he can Mila. He’s just tired, not dead,” The teacher stifles a laugh and gently nudges the girl’s shoulder. “Now move for a second, his Collector is here.”

“Not a very good Collector,” The girl, Mila, sing-songs as she moves off the table. Viktor whips his head to glare at her and finds her staring right back, challenging. She grabs a piece of her hair and twirls it flippantly. “I tried giving him some of my Energy but it didn’t work.”

 _Of course it didn’t_ , he wants to say but he simply tightens his lips and grabs Yuri’s hand. It only takes a few seconds and Viktor can feel his headache disappear completely as the Energy exchanges. The moment he feels their Wavelengths disconnect is the instant Yuri snatches his hand back and looks up to glare at Viktor like he’s something gross and dirty and if he’s going to say anything about it, it’s stopped by the redhead girl.

“You’re back!” Mila cheers and throws her arms around Yuri, pulling him into a tight hug.

“I never left! Let go!” He snaps, wiggling to get out of her clutches and he almost does but Mila strengths her grip and Yuri surrenders, though he doesn’t look too happy about it. “And don’t think I didn’t feel you poking me, I just couldn’t do anything about it!”

“Shush.” She whispers and presses their cheeks together.

“Mila, you’re gonna pay,” He grumbles out, fire and promise behind his words but his friend doesn’t bat an eyelash.

Viktor watches the two of them a little confused. He didn’t expect Yuri to let him know how school as going or anything, but he’d overhead conversations the Reliever had had with his parents and everything seemed to be going good, but at no point in any of the conversations had Yuri mentioned he had made a friend already. It feels like he’s intruding on something private, watching them interact. It’s not like they’re super close and get along amazingly, in fact Yuri seems quite opposed to Mila’s actions, but the fact that he’s letting her be close to him is a lot more than can be said for Viktor. Seeing them together, it stings a lot.

“They make their own fun,” Their teacher pipes up, amused by her two students. She turns to Viktor and tilts her head, “When was the last time you Exchanged?”

“Um, yesterday morning,” Viktor recalls vaguely, half paying attention to her and half eyeing the two seven-year old’s. Catching on what he’s doing, he shakes his head and fully turns to the teacher. “It’s only been a few days, we’re still figuring it out,”     

“I understand, I’m sure it must be very new and exciting to finally have found your match,” She grins, bright and hopeful and easy which is everything the situation is not.

“Yup,” Viktor answers curtly and starts heading out the door. “I have to go…back to class. Excuse me.”

Hastily, without looking back, he exists the room and quickly walks down the hall. He slows down after he’s put some distance between him and the classroom and when he gets closer to staircase, he finds Georgi looking for him as well.

“There you are, you took off so quickly,” The best friend exclaims, throwing his hands in the air “Where did you go?”

“I had an Energy headache, I had to go find Yuri,” He points behind him as he walks. It’s funny how Exchanging is supposed to have made him feel better but he actually feels worse now than before.

It probably shows on his face because Georgi puts a hand on his elbow as if to steady him, “What’s wrong?”

He isn’t too sure how to answer that without dramatically saying, _everything_. Feeling this way, all jumbled and angry and upset all the time is the worst. He swallows spit and it feels like vile.

“Viktor,” Georgi says quietly and he snaps his eyes open, not even aware of when he had closed them. They look at each other carefully and Georgi reaches up to pat him on the back in comfort. “It’s going to be okay.”

He looks away from his friend and down at the dark hallway. It was sunny earlier when he was outside, the clouds must have gotten in the way and blocked the light completely.

“I don’t know how,” He mutters resolvedly and Georgi dares to looks hurt, which he finds funny because the entire situation doesn’t really involve him. It isn’t his problem, this is for Viktor alone to deal with. He squares his shoulders and smiles at his best friend but it’s a fake smile and it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Come on, we better head back.”

He begins to walk down the dark hallway, expecting Georgi to follow him, but it’s a long time before his friend does and even then, he puts some space between them. Georgi had always been on the side of destiny, love and Interchange. It’s all perfectly fine though, Viktor is starting to realize maybe he’s better of that way, on the side of skepticism.

**-**

Up in the sky, way up there, Yuri sees a plane flying over the school and a small part of him dearly wishes that his grandfather was on it. But it’s not Saturday yet, it’s only Thursday, so his grandfather won’t arrive in St. Petersburg for another two more days and every moment is misery without him.

He knows that the decision for him to fly ahead with the Nikiforovs to Moscow was his grandfather’s, there were a lot of things he needed to do before moving to a whole other city. Nikolai calls every morning and every night and Yuri knows it’s not too long to be without him but he hates it. Being with the others in the house, it’s awkward and weird and it always feels like he doesn’t belong there. But it’s always been that way. The entire world always feels like it doesn’t quite have room for Yuri to live in it, to belong somewhere.

“What are you thinking about?”

Yuri huffs and rolls his eyes, turning his head from the window to the girl who has turned her chair around to face him. Mila Babicheva has been a pain in his neck since he started school and he’d only been enrolled for four days. He had the unfortunate luck of being sat right behind her against the window. The view was great until Mila decided, all on her own, that she and Yuri were going to be best friends, she had told him so during recess that very Monday. It’s felt like forever since.

“None of your business,” He practically spits and tries to focus on his sculpture he’s supposed to making out of glue and packing peanuts. He’s a little tired of those lately, the Nikiforov’s house has slowly become filled with boxes of varies sizes and bags of packing peanuts in preparation for the big move into a house they haven’t bought yet. Alexei called it thinking one step ahead, which doesn’t make sense to Yuri because none of them know where they’re going.

“Well that’s not very nice,” Mila pouts like her feelings are hurt but it’s all for show. “Best friends are supposed to tell each other what we’re feeling.”

Yuri scoffs, “We are not best friends! We are not even friends!”

“Me? I’m thinking about what’s for lunch today, I’m very hungry,” She keeps going, completely ignoring Yuri’s eye daggers. She sets her elbow on his desk and places her chin in her hand. “I hope it’s not those gross sandwiches again, they were so soggy.”

“Do you ever shut up?” He glowers, leaning his face in to intimidate.

Mila glares back, just as determined. “Are you ever nice?”

“No,” Yuri bites, crushing a packing peanut in his hand. He’s destroyed over half what he was given because of his classmate.  

“Then I won’t be quiet,” She says resolutely, looking all too happy about it. She continues to speak about what kinds of food she does like and Yuri does his best to ignore her but by the time she somehow segues into talking about jellyfish, he realizes Mila may not have been the right person to challenge.

“If I’m…nicer,” He struggles with the words in his throat, not liking the idea he’s about to present at all, “to you, will you be quiet more.”

She takes in his offer, mulling it over her in her head before agreeing. “Maybe.”

And that’s as good as it’s probably going to get with her. Yuri sighs, gratefully, and begins to work on his sculpture with a little more focus as Mila silently watches him. What bugs him the most about her is that she’s so persistent even though Yuri’s been nothing but mean to her. He doesn’t feel right about being so rude but there’s a tiny tiny tiny part of him that is a little relieved that even though she’s seen him at his worst and meanest, she’s still able to smile at him. They only just met though, so he wonders how long it’s going to be before she gets tired of him and stops talking completely. It wouldn’t be all bad, that is what he wanted after all, for her to be quiet.

“What are you going to make?” She whispers as she crosses her arms on his desk and sets her chin there, looking up at him innocently.

Yuri furrows his eyebrows, assessing the pieces in front of him and the glue bottle. “A cat.”

“Cool,” Mila states and Yuri agrees, it was going to be cool.

It ends up looking a little scary and wonky, but he and Mila have a huge laugh about it during lunch (not soggy sandwiches). Overall, it shapes up to be an actual good day at school that Yuri doesn’t totally hate. That is, until school is over and they’re walking out together. Everything is perfectly normal as they make their way outside to the courtyard, until someone sticks their foot in his way and he ends up crashing hard against the floor.

“Yuri!” Mile exclaims, quickly moving to help him up. As she does, they both look up to see who was the jerk who did that to him and see a big kid with a group of equally big friends staring at them. They’re not in the same class as them, but Mila recognizes them as older students she’s seen around the school. Bullies.

“Oops,” The second grader says and his friends snort and chortle along with him. The kid steps forward menacingly and sneers at Yuri. “Watch where you’re going next time.”

Mila shoots up and gets in his face, narrows her eyes dangerously. “You did that on purpose!”

The kid backs up, surprised by Mila’s reaction. He studies her face for a moment then rolls his eyes, “Whatever.”

He signals for his friends to walk away and they follow him like sheep. After a few seconds they completely disappear, leaving the two first graders by themselves again.

“What’s their problem?” Yuri asks, studying his hands for cuts since he landed on them to break his fall.

“I don’t know but they’re real jerks,” She states angrily but her tone softens as she looks over his knees to make sure nothing’s too bad. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” He brushes off his jacket, it is the uniform Ekaterina very excitedly presented to him after all, and makes sure nothing ripped.

They bond over trash talking upperclassmen and how rude, mean and stupid they are until Mila sees her parent’s car and she’s off. Then Yuri waits alone by the gate of the school for Viktor to show up (because he has not, not because he wants to), kicking gravel on the floor and watching the kids pass by—most of them paired off probably with their Interchange Match and some of them are in bigger groups of friends. They’re all laughing and smiling and getting along great, holding hands or exchanging daring kisses. The sadness he pushed to the very back of his brain creeps up slowly as he watches them with an unknowing longing expression on his face.

“See you later Viktor!”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow!”

Yuri scans the mass of students until he sees his Collector waving cheerfully at a boy and girl, smile stretched across his face. It disappears quickly when he lays eyes on Yuri, it becomes stern and blank, his eyes staring at Yuri without really _looking_ at him. All at once, he is reminded how much of a disappointment he is to the Collector and the longing is replaced with irritation.

“Let’s go.” Is all Viktor says with a nod of his head and they start walking down the street to the Nikiforov’s house.

This is their relationship, if it can even be called that. They’re relatively civil and they don’t fight in front of Viktor’s parents, they exchange Energy badly and only know when to because Yuri becomes exhausted or Viktor gets a headache and they do it by quickly touching hands. To the day, it’s only been a week but everything is awkward and stilted as when they first met.

“My mom and dad won’t be here for another hour,” Viktor announces once they get to his house and he opens the door. Makkachin is at the door, jumping on his owner as soon the door swings and for a second, Viktor’s face is open and bright as he pets his puppy all over, giving just as many kisses as he’s receiving. Then he looks over his shoulder dismissively, cold once more. “I’ll be busy, so don’t bother me.” And he walks away into the kitchen, turning on lights as he goes. The puppy looks between his owner and the scrawny seven-year-old standing dumbly at the door, caught between the two of them, but in the end he gives Yuri a quick lick and scurries off after the real object of his affections.

Yuri isn’t too offended, just rolls his eyes and marches into the guest room which is his room until they move out, and settles on the bed to do his homework. Time flies by and soon he hears more footsteps and voices entering the house. It’s lively and warm and when Ekaterina laughs, Yuri likes the sound. He gets distracted trying to not be interested in what’s going on outside his door that he jumps when it swings open and Mrs. Nikiforov comes in.

“There you are Yuri,” She greets, all smiles and blue eyes. “Are you hungry? I’ll be making dinner soon.”

He nods politely, unsure how to proceed.

“Okay, well come on and join the fun,” She extends a hand and despite the voice in his head telling him that he should absolutely not go, he does.

It’s a terrible mistake. He ends up in the kitchen, staring at his hands, while everybody and everything around him is alive and talking, making jokes and getting along. Ekaterina cooks while half dancing, Alexei sets up the table while laughing sweetly with his wife, Viktor grins from ear to ear while watching his parents goof around but decidedly ignores his Reliever and Yuri sits, as small as he possibly can, feeling completely out of place.

When Saturday comes along, Alexei goes to pick up his grandfather alone which irritates Yuri to no ends because then he has to spend two hours watching Viktor and his mom laugh and talk while they water the impossible number of plants they have indoors. After some time, Yuri tires of it and retreats to his room where he stays until the door opens slowly and his grandfather walks in.

“Yuratchka—” He doesn’t even get through what he wants to say before the kid tackles him.

“Grandpa,” Yuri murmurs into his jacket, holding as tightly as he can. His grandfather hugs back with equal force and they hear a chuckle from behind them, probably Alexei, but the person walks away and leaves them alone. Once the door is closed, Yuri keeps hold of his grandpa and says, “Grandpa, I hate it here.”

The warm look on Nikolai’s face quickly turns shocked at his grandson’s hurt, anguished expression. “Yuri, what happened? We just talked this morning, you said everything was fine.”

“I lied,” He admits, tears gathering in his eyes. He wipes them away with one hand. “I don’t belong here, not with them. They’re going to see that. G-grandpa they’re going to see that I’m not good and hate me and what will we do then?”

It wasn’t the welcome Nikolai was expecting. He had been praying constantly that week that everything was going well with the boys, Yuri seemed to make it like everything was going well. Now it’s obvious that things weren’t exactly right and there wasn’t much he could do for his distressed grandson at the moment, so he held him. Held him as tightly and sweetly as he could while Yuri cried until he couldn’t no more.

-

It seems that throughout the years since he became a Collector, the doctors in Viktor’s life may have been holding back in what they really wanted to do with Viktor back when he was alone because now that he and Yuri are together, there’s no holds barred. It isn’t like they’re experimenting or doing weird tests on them, but their normally free weekends are now often taken by the doctors, scientists and occasionally authors or scholars of some sort trying to get as much as they can from the two kids. Occasionally even their guardians are brought into meetings, trying to get every detail as to what could have caused such an unprecedent situation. 

“So how do you feel now that you are part of Interchange,” A lady in a while coat and glasses asks Yuri during one of their appointments, clipboard in her hands as she scribbles quickly across the page.

Yuri sniffs loudly, wrinkling his nose unattractively. “I hate it, it’s the worst.”

The scientist’s pen stops moving and she looks up over her lenses, eyebrow quirking. “Really?”

“Yeah,” He answers without thought. It’s actually kind of nice, having people listen to him about how much everything sucks. Plus, he gets to squish around playdough, today he was making sunny-side-up eggs because that’s what he had for breakfast. “I used to be able to be by myself all the time and now I have to depend on my stupid Collector to give me Energy.”

“That is how Interchange works,” She hums, going back to writing things down.

“It isn’t fair,” He mushes the dough in his hands as tightly as he can and it slips through his fingers like goo, then he rolls it all together to make a ball. “One person gets really, really tired and the other has all the Energy.”

“Well, the Collector also suffers if the Reliver isn’t there,” She points out, waving her free hand around her head. “If they build up enough Energy, they get huge migraines that could result in passing out.”

Yuri stops squishing his playdough around and looks at the lady in white for a moment before asking, “Hey, you’re a scientist, right?” He completely ignores anything she said in favor of the Collectors. “You can science stuff and invent things.”

“More or less,” She chuckles, not really sure what Yuri has mind.

He lets her know. “Can you make me stop being a Reliever?” The way he says it is simple but eager, like it’s no big deal to change something so monumental, but would really appreciate it if you did him this small favor. “Like. Change me so I don’t be one anymore.”

“How so?” She furrows her eyebrows, entertaining the young boy.

“Change my genetics,” He suggest, eyes lighting up. “Or or or! Make something that gives me Energy that I need to be okay by myself! That way I don’t depend on stupid Viktor for anything.”

“Well there is the General Charge but that only helps for so long…” She replies and Yuri feels like someone has mentioned something to him about a General something before but he doesn’t remember who. The lady continues, seeing his puzzled expression, with a shrug. “I’m afraid the science you’re talking about is a little too advance for us…and unheard of.” But her mind starts reeling and she looks to side in critical thought. “But it’s an interesting thought.”

“I have loads of them!” Yuri beams proudly and looks down at the funky shaped pile of dough he didn’t really do anything with. He looks back up and innocently points down, “Can I keep it?” She lets him and becomes his favorite adult in white coat to talk to.

They’re in the offices a little while more but soon enough they’re all leaving and Yuri feels like it was certainly a better, entertaining experience than the times before. The others, however, don’t seem to feel the same way.

“It was intense,” Ekaterina comments with a grimace once they’re all the car and back on the road. They’d been driving for a while before actually talking about the meetings and only because Nikolai, who hadn’t been called in that day, asked how it went.

“I guess now that the kids are together, they don’t feel a need to be careful anymore,” Alexei adds. He and his wife had been interviewed by a doctor on what kind of environment they raised Viktor, for the fifth time. “They just really want answers.”

Nikolai glances over at his grandson sitting next to him, squishing around some purple playdough in his hands, thinking of the things he could have said to the officials. Then he does the same for Viktor, who stares out the window quietly, on his other side. “Do you think we’ll be able to give it to them?”

“I don’t know,” Ekaterina shrugs with a loud sigh, pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose. “Something like this, I personally feel like it’s bigger than scientist and doctors. I think it was just meant to be this way and they can do all the test and talks they like—”

“So long as they respect the kids.” Alexei butts in, then points down the road. “Turn there, honey.”

“—Definitely, respect the kids,” She agrees, nodding fervently and turns the wheel as her husband says. “But I don’t think they’ll get very far.” They drive for a little more and pause at a stop sign. Ekaterina squints as she looks both ways, “Is it further down?”

Alexei squints with her then nods, “Yeah, just right over there.”

“Where are we going?” Yuri asks, looking out the window and not seeing the neighborhood and houses he’s grown used to seeing.              

“To see a possible new house!” The mom sings, excitedly tapping her hands on the wheel. “I have a really good feeling about this one, it has everything we’re looking for!”

Nikolai smiles warmly at her cheer. “That’s always good.”

“I’m sorry that it’s taken so long to go out and see them, you and Yuri must be sick of the guest room,” She apologies as they start to slow down in front of an impressively large house. Everyone in the car turns to the window to stare. “Any spare time we’ve had has gone to those stupid doctor’s appointments, it took a lot of negotiating just to get this afternoon off.”

Days have kind of blurred into each other and become weeks and now a little over two months has passed but Yuri is only _almost_ a little used to life in St. Petersburg. After his little breakdown during his first week there, he had a long talk with his grandfather and Nikolai reassured him that whatever happens in the future, they would be fine. There was probably more to it than that but Yuri can’t recall a lot of it, his head had been throbbing badly.

Things since then have started looking a little better: Ekaterina and Alexei always include him in everything, they’re sweet and kind and weird and Yuri has come to enjoy talking to them. His grandfather started working at a café in the city and Yuri loves _that_ because Nikolai is always bringing back fresh bread and sweets; then on the weekends Yuri gets to visit and sit at the booth which all the employees in the café call _his_ booth and he draws and reads and eats and nothing bothers him.

And Viktor. Well. They’re not as bad as they originally were at Exchanging so. There’s that. Not that Yuri would want there to be anything else so everything is just fine as far as he’s concerned.

“Welcome welcome welcome, are you ready to see your new home?” The lady who always shows them the possible houses (none of which they have chosen) greets them at the door. Normally the adults stick with the lady and he’s allowed to roam the houses as he pleases to get a “feel” of them (Ekaterina’s words) so he does just that as the adults’ head into the kitchen.

Viktor watches Yuri disappear to the staircase and sighs loudly, dearly wishing he had Makkachin with him, but they had left him at home that day, so he trails after the adults around. Very little has improved in his and Yuri’s relationship and it all comes down to them both being stubborn brats. Despite Georgi’s constant words of support and assurance, and the occasional “you’re being an idiot, grow up”, Viktor refuses to. Truth be told, it’s still very tiring to be mad at all the time in front of Yuri (he’s never been more grateful for school in his entire life) and he knows he’s running out of steam. It’s inevitable that he’s going to crack first, but he’s decided to at least go down swinging.

It’s probably not his best plan.

“What do you think, Viktor?” His mom suddenly asks him and he startles, not having been listening to anything that was happened but just going through the motions. Ekaterina catches on and asks again, “Of the house so far?”

“Oh,” He mumbles, lost because, again, he hadn’t been paying attention at all. He realizes then that they’ve walked quite a bit around the house, vaguely remembering the large kitchen, living room, dining room and some bathrooms. “Very nice?”

The adults chuckle, amused by him. He feels his cheek heat up and brushes his hair out of his face nervously, making sure to be paying full attention this time around.

“Okay, if you follow me I’ll show you the sun room,” The agent signals and gives them an excited smile. “I think you’ll really like this room.”

That’s under exaggeration. There’s absolutely nothing in the room but it’s stunning and it fills Viktor’s mind with possibilities of what can be done with it. Made from 85% windows, the glass inside must be slightly tinted because the sun flowing in shines pinks and purples and blues beautifully—it’d be the most perfect room for a green house.

“Like it?” The agent asks where she stands off to the side.

“It’s perfect,” Viktor answers in awe, imaging what he could do with the place, the kinds of flowers and plants he could grow.

They leave the room reluctantly to go see the rest of the house, somehow never meet Yuri along the way, but before long they’re all back in the kitchen and the Nikiforov’s are ready for the paperwork.

“I say we go to Palkin to celebrate,” Alexei announces and Ekaterina squeaks in agreement. He glances up from his writing and says towards his son, “Vitya, could you go find Yuri and bring him down?”

There’s a small part of his brain that wants to say no or suggest that maybe Nikolai go and find his own grandson but Viktor is a good kid who does as his parents tell him to do so he nods and starts to hunt down his missing Reliever. And while it doesn’t take forever, it sure feels like it does because Viktor scours all the rooms in the first and second floor and doesn’t find him. Not until he goes up to the third, to what could be considered the attic except it’s not because it’s a lot nicer than an attic, does he find his Reliever looking out the window at the view, not a care in the world, oblivious to the minor panic he put Viktor through.

“I should have known,” He says bitterly, shaking his head. It’s mostly worry thrumming in his veins but he manages to pretend its anger. “What are you even doing up here?”

Yuri tenses at his voice, looking over his shoulder, “None of your business.”

“Wow, clever,” He deadpans. They glare at each other for a few seconds before Viktor says, “We have to go downstairs.”

“You’re the one who came up, you go downstairs,” The Reliever points out petulantly.

“I was sent to get you, let’s just go,” Viktor rolls his eyes.

Yuri shakes his head hard, “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Seriously…?” He says slowly and Yuri’s face says yes, he’s very serious about it. “Fine, I’ll leave but they’re waiting for you downstairs so you better not be long.” And then he adds, just to be spiteful, “What a rude kid, didn’t your parents ever teach you any manners?” He waves a hand dismissively and turns to go but he hears rushed footsteps behind him and the next thing he knows he’s being pushed to the ground. _Yuri_ pushes him to the ground. Hard.

“SHUT. UP.” He bites out violently, standing over Viktor, vibrating with rage. Before the Collector can react, Yuri lifts a small hand and slaps him across the face. It doesn’t hurt badly, though it does sting. “Shut up, you don’t know anything! You’re just a stupid idiot who is _horrible_!”

And none of that makes sense but Viktor’s too in shock to do anything, so he watches Yuri run out of the room to who knows where and he sits, his cheek throbbing. He pushed something he wasn’t supposed to and now everything feels on the side of hopeless. He stays there for a little longer, trying to figure out how to proceed, and when he finally stands up and turns for the door, he sees Yuri’s grandfather waiting for him.

“N-Nikolai,” He gasps, taking a step back in shock. “Yuri, he…um, that is. He just left, you can still catch him.” The grandfather’s eyes are on his cheek and Viktor instantly raises a hand to cover it. “It was m-my fault, I said something I shouldn’t have.” He looks away, ashamed, wringing his hands together. “I always…always say mean things to him. I don’t mean to but…but he hates me and I don’t know why and it makes me angry and then he hates me more.” Finally, he admits, full of guilt, “It’s my fault.”

“None of this is your fault Viktor,” Nikolai begins softly, shaking his head slightly. “I’m not making excuses for my grandson, I assure you I will be speaking with him regarding this, violence will never be tolerated in this household.

“But Yuri…my Yuratchka has been through something that doesn’t make it easy for him to get close to people, even at such a young age.” Nikolai hesitates, wondering if he should finally but resolves to continue. “You see, my son is his father. And he’s a very adventurous spirit, always has been. His match, his wife, is a woman who was just as wild as he is and they set out to rule to the world. But then Yuri came along, and don’t get me wrong, they loved the idea of expanding their family very much but…it really was _only_ the idea that that they really liked. When it came to the actual work, they didn’t do too well.”

He pauses, the words seemingly stuck in his throat, hurting him. Viktor can’t imagine what he’s leading to say and he’s never been more curious. By the time Nikolai collects himself enough to continue, his eyes have gone steely.

“I love my son, I love my son very much,” The grandfather says in a way that sounds like it’s not true, “but I’ve always known he is immature and impatient and selfish. I just don’t think I realized just how much until he showed up at my door with Yuri and told me he and his wife couldn’t do it anymore.”

Viktor’s heart drops to his stomach.

“They put in all the time they could, they did their best, but parenthood wasn’t for them. Yuri was too fussy, liked to grab things that weren’t his, cried a lot, always needed attention—and they just…didn’t _want_ him. They wanted to see the world, live their lives, have freedom but they couldn’t do that with a kid. I didn’t even fight with him on it, I was so sick to my stomach, I just took Yuri and closed the door,” Nikolai bites out, voice sharp and angry with every reason to be. The room itself seemed to have gotten several degrees colder.

“Yuri was three at the time, old enough that he still remembers his parents and still remembers very clearly why they left him. And when a child knows, disgustingly and horrifically knows that his parents didn’t want him…it makes it hard to believe that anyone else will. Blood, genetics, DNA—it all becomes moot. He now knows that even the strongest bond doesn’t mean anything.

“It’s not true, of course, but the damage has been done,” The grandfather gets softer now, weaker, as if admitting defeat. “In truth, I think the reason I didn’t pay attention to whether Yuri was part of Interchange or not was because at the time, it wasn’t the priority. He had just been abandoned by his parents, nothing else mattered but assuring him every day that he was loved and cared for, that he knew he was wanted. But to this day, it’s difficult for him to believe anyone else could, want him that is. So, he shuts everyone out.

“Viktor, I know this might be a lot to ask, I know I probably shouldn’t even say it.” But Viktor hopes he does because he really wants to hear it. Nikolai searches his face and apparently sees something there because he says it, “Please don’t give up on Yuri. He needs you to show him that he is wanted in this world.”

“But he has you,” He whispers stupidly, his pride getting the best of him.

“I am and I always will be,” The grandfather nods, his smile kind and understanding. “And he knows that, Yuri knows I love him more than anything and will never leave him, but because of this I’m not the person he needs anymore. I’ve done everything I can, it’s out of my hands.”

There's so much honesty in Nikolai's face, it's for him to say, “What do I do?”

“Just be yourself.”

Which is great and all, except Viktor points out, “Myself can be pretty mean sometimes.”

“So can Yuri,” The grandfather chuckles.

Another great point that reminds Viktor, “He hates me,” He points towards the door where Yuri left in a mad dash. “You saw what just happened, he’s furious.”

Nikolai shakes his head, “Yuri doesn’t hate people, he’s scared of them. Terrified of being left alone again, that they’ll get tired of him too.”

“I wouldn’t do that, I would never—“ _leave him_. Viktor cuts himself off, but the man seems to have gotten the picture. And while things do seem to be a little clearer, there’s still a bit of Viktor that is upset and it wrenches out of him before he can stop himself. “I’m know I’m mad but it’s not on purpose, I don’t want to hate him or be angry with him. I just want him to know that it’s been hard for me too! All these years have been terrible for me too and he couldn’t care less! I’m not going to leave him, but I want him to feel bad for leaving _me_ for so long!”

It’s the first time he’s said it out loud and it’s humiliating to admit it, he can’t bear to look at Nikolai now that he’s confessed his feelings. After hearing Yuri’s story, it puts things into perspective that Viktor wasn’t the only one having a challenging time. It feels pointless to be upset now, having your parents abandoned you clearly beats being just lonely. Now the only thing he feels is stupid.

“It’s not about comparing who has had it worse than the other,” Nikolai explains slowly, his voice nonjudgmental. Viktor looks up and sees his eyes full of patience for him, for a selfish kid like him. He also wonders if the older man can read minds. “And that’s hard, believe me. It’s about understanding that you both were hurt but you can move on from that and be better. Because it will get better. Viktor, you have _every_ reason to feel the way you do, it’s not any less important or valid than Yuri’s. You just have to give him a chance to understand you and what you’ve been through. I’m sure if you give him a chance, and some time, he won’t disappoint you.”

He doesn’t know when he started crying and only realizes it when Nikolai kneels down a little and wipes away at the tears on his cheeks. The touch is smooth and comforting and he feels his heart squeeze in delight at not being ridiculed but understood.

“Nikolai, can I ask a favor?” He inquires carefully and the older man raises his eyebrows. “Please don’t tell Yuri you know he hit me.” Nikolai’s face goes shocked if not uncertain and Viktor is quick to explain. “I want to take care of it myself. Please.”

There’s a small amount of hesitance but in the end, the grandfather agrees with a nod. “We should get back down, your parents were almost done with the paperwork,” The grandfather squeezes his shoulder warmly and leads him down the stairs.

By the time they reach the first floor, all the paperwork is done and the Nikiforovs can’t seem to stop shaking in excitement. Viktor watches his parents happily, feeling a million times better than he has in a long time. Somehow it seems appropriate that they’re finally moving houses when Viktor has found peace again. When he turns to look at his Reliever, hiding behind his parents, his heart dips a little.

Yuri is quiet, any anger in him is gone, and he just looks a little deflated. Viktor watches him silently and he realizes that Yuri is worried. He’s looking between Viktor’s parents and his grandfather nervously and occasionally back at Viktor himself. Yuri knows he crossed a line and now he’s worried that Viktor is going to tell on him to the adults and get him in trouble because Yuri thinks he hates him and that this is the final way to get revenge. And then the adults will hate him for it forever instead of just lending it to a once in a life time incident, which is what it is. Viktor’s heart squeezes again, not in delight this time, but in need of wanting to rush over and squish Yuri’s cheeks until he knows that that will never happen, to reassure him that everything is fine. But he doesn’t, because they’re not at that level (nowhere close). Not yet, anyways.

So the adults shuffle out and Yuri lingers, too caught up in his own thoughts to notice that Viktor stays behind with him. It isn’t until Viktor dares to reach out and touch Yuri’s hand for a second that the Reliever knows he’s not alone. As usual, he jerks his hand back, bringing it to his chest and Viktor tries not to feel too offended by it. Small steps.

“I’m not going to tell, about this,” Viktor lets him know, pointing at his cheek offhandedly. There’s nothing there anymore but maybe some slight pinkness that Yuri, in the very back of his head, finds pretty. Then the older boy gets a little more serious though his voice is not unkind, “But you can never do it again. It’s not okay to hit people, ever. If you ever act on violence again, I won’t forgive you.”

He expects Yuri to scoff or roll his eyes or do something in a negative manner but the young boy just blinks for a bit before nodding and muttering out a soft, “Okay.”

Then he turns to head towards the door but Viktor steps forward, calling for him again. “And I’m sorry for what I said!” In a panic, he was a little louder than intended. Yuri turns back, eyes wider than before and completely unsure what the other is doing. For his part, Viktor tries to voice all his sincerity into his voice, to let Yuri know how genuine his feelings are, “It was really rude of me. I wasn’t thinking but I swear I won’t do it again. I really am sorry.”

Yuri’s lost expression makes him smile, it’s a great feeling to surprise him and get such a reaction. So he smiles brighter and walks past him. “Let’s get some food yeah?”

Viktor makes it all the way down the walkway before turning back and looking at their new home. It looks more beautiful than it was when they first got there, there's more possibility now. His parents and Nikolai are somewhere to the side, talking to the realtor about something or anything but his attention is mostly on Yuri standing, puzzled and stunted, at the doorway. It's not yet evening so there's so still so much light everywhere and when Yuri finally steps out of the house and into the sunshine, it shines against his awkwardly cut hair and makes him look nothing short of an angel.


	4. Case I, Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how long has it been? long enough that when i started writing this chapter i had completely forgotten 1.) how old viktor and yuri were 2.) the terminology i used 3.) how to spell makkachin 4.) how to spell yuratchka 5.) what was happening. i'm not even sure if there's anyone out there who remembers this exists and will read it but if someone does come across it--thank you so much for stopping by!
> 
> can i just say that...i like the IDEA of writing kids in fic but actually doing it is fucking hard. i just want to get to the mushy crushes and pining stuff which can't be done with kids. so this chapter, wrapping up their childhood, was really difficult to write and might not be...too good. but, i promise that the quality from here on will be like, 17% better. fo sho!
> 
> dedicated to the lovely Nameless_Forest for their kind messages through the past year. they meant so, so much ♡

They’re halfway down the hall to the cafeteria when Yuri realizes he’s forgotten his student card back in the classroom.

“I’ll be right back,” He tells Mila, who stopped walking when she felt him stop too. He doesn’t have to tell her, it’s not like she needs to know where he is always but if he didn’t and he just walked off, she’d go on and on about how worried she was about him when he returned. 

“Want me to wait?” She chirps, tilting her head innocently.

He shakes his head, “Nah, I’ll be fast.”

“Hurry back,” She beams and waves him goodbye as he turns to walk away.

Yuri can’t help but roll his eyes though he can’t stop the smile that stretches across his face. Despite his resistance, Mila has turned out to be an awesome friend. His classmates tend to get cross eyed or offended whenever Yuri accidentally says something a little too mean but Mila will just throw her head back and laugh. Then of course she’ll make him apologize for being mean, but still. It makes Yuri want to say mean things a little less. Recently they’ve talked about having Mila come over to the Nikiforov’s house or he go over to hers to watch some of the movies and T.V. shows they’d been discussing during lunch. Yuri is wondering how and when to ask his grandfather if that was possible when something hard presses against his chest and he’s shoved harshly against the wall.

The impact makes him close his eyes tightly but when he opens them, he’s face to face with the ugly second grader he’s come to recognize all too well. Yuri doesn’t know his name or what his issue is, but lately he’s been coming after him a lot lately. Tripping him, grabbing his backpack, making him drop his things, or whacking him over the head. It’s been going on for months and months now, ever since Yuri first arrived at the school, and doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

“Get off,” He growls out, trying to make himself as big as possible. It doesn’t work.

The kid snorts and moves his forearm from Yuri’s chest to his neck, pressing a little harder. “You think you’re so special but you’re not.” He spits, mouth curling horribly in the corners. “You’re nothing, you’re worthless. Just go back to where you came from.” He shoves him one last time and then let’s go, walking away like nothing happened.

Panic rises from his stomach to his heart and Yuri slides down the wall, covering his eyes with his hands. The thing about it is, the stupid second grader isn’t wrong. Yuri isn’t any good to anyone, all he does is annoy people. When Mila is around and the bullies do something to him, she worries and makes a big fuss. If they keep doing it, she’s going to get tired of worrying about him and just leave him alone. If he goes to the Nikiforovs or his grandfather, they’ll see what a loser he is that he’s getting picked on for just _existing_.

Getting up slowly, he numbly makes his way to the classroom, retrieves his card and makes his way back to the cafeteria at snail speed. He needs a few seconds to calm down, to stop freaking out, before he goes back to his friend and pretends that everything is fine.

“Yuri?”

Even though he doesn’t really want to, he knows that voice anywhere and everywhere. Yuri looks up and sees Viktor walking down the hallway towards him, eyebrows furrowed.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at lunch?” He isn’t being hostile or demanding, just seems to be asking out of curiosity. Viktor has changed a lot recently and Yuri doesn’t entirely know what to make of it. He’s doesn’t look at him with eyes of disdain and coldness, he doesn’t ignore him or make him different, he looks at Yuri and talks to him and really sees him, like he’s doing now.

“Are you okay?” Viktor asks again after not getting any answer. He’s not that much taller than Yuri but the younger one still has to tilt his chin a little to see his Collector directly in his face.

“What did you do to your hair?” Is what he says instead because he can’t bring himself to talk about anything else. When they left for school, Viktor had his hair loose but now it was in a braid down his neck. It’s grown out a bit since they first met, not that Yuri pays that much attention to him.

“Huh? Oh.” A pale hand reaches up to touch the braid reflexively and he smiles awkwardly, “Anya braided it during class.”

Yuri isn’t in spirits to make fun of him or tell him it makes him look even more like a girl, he simply nods and walks around him, muttering out. “I see.”

He makes it to the double doors of the cafeteria before Viktor catches up and tries to stop him again. “Seriously, Yuri, is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” The blond answers rapidly, not looking at the other at all. “It’s all okay.”

It’s quiet for a second. Yuri doesn’t understand what Viktor’s obsession is with him being okay, it’s not like it should matter to him but here he is asking like knows Yuri isn’t telling the truth. And really, he’s not but that shouldn’t be of any concern to him. He’s about to tell him so when the other grabs his hand and energy begins to Exchange. In an instant, any weariness he was feeling is gone and despite still feeling a smidge worried, everything feels better. As soon as the Wavelengths disconnect, Viktor gives the smaller hand in his a squeeze and then lets it go.

“See you later,” He grins and walks away without a care in the world.

Yuri watches him leave and then looks down at his hand. It doesn’t look any different but it feels funny. Normally he would wipe it away against his pants but he just flexes it twice before closing it carefully. It must be the worry that’s making him all goopy so he shakes his head and walks into the large cafeteria where Mila waves at him to head over to their class table.

“I told the lunch lady you forgot your card so she gave me food for you too,” She announces, waving at the tray in front of hers. Yuri sits down and starts picking at it. “What took you so long? That wasn’t fast at all!”

He twists his mouth playfully. “Shut up Mila.”

Mila does, not because he orders it, but because she’s thinking. She looks towards the cafeteria doors, sucking on her juice box straw, and then back at Yuri. “You and Viktor seem to be getting along now.”

“Not really,” Yuri shrugs carelessly, cutting the meat on his tray into pieces like his grandfather has taught him too. Through a mouthful, he adds, “He’s just being weird.”

“He is being weird,” Mila agrees, mind going back into the past. “When I first saw him, I thought he was a real jerk. But he’s okay now.”

Chewing pensively, Yuri stares at Mila as she picks up the apple on her tray and gives it a large bite. Despite how close they’ve gotten over the months, there are some details about her that, for some odd reason, have never come up.

“Mila,” He begins, swallowing. Wiping at the corners of his mouth, he asks boldly, “Do you have an Interchange partner?”

“Of course I do, why?” Her eyes light up and Yuri assumes it’s because she’s about to start talking about how much she loves her partner, but then she smirks and says, “You jealous?”

“No!” He jerks back, cheeks going pink. Picking up his fork again, he stabs at his food harshly and rolls his eyes. “You just never talk about them and you’re always with me at school. Do they go here?”

“Nope,” She pops the p at the end.

Yuri glowers at her, wondering if she’ll say anymore and when she doesn’t, sighs loudly, “So where are they?”

“At home,” She answers, seeming bored with the subject already. “His house. He lives next door to me.” Finally, she seems to catch on that Yuri wants to know more without actually having to ask so she continues, “He’s not strong like me, he’s kinda weak, so he stays home and his mom teaches him school. His name is Maxim.”

 _Mila and Maxim_ , it makes sense somehow, but she talks about him like Yuri would talk about Viktor. Disinterested and bothered by the fact that she has an Energy partner at all. It makes Yuri like her even more.

“Do you guys get along?” The straw won’t go into his juice box, it keeps getting stuck on the small plastic barrier.

“Pretty much, he can be boring sometimes. He watches hockey a lot and it’s kind of stupid,” She admits, reaching over and grabbing the juice from him. With little effort, she manages to open it and hand it back to him. As she does, she leans closer and whispers, “But I like you better than my partner.”

Slowly, he blinks a couple times like he doesn’t believe it, placing the juice box to the side. Mila stares back expectantly and Yuri doesn’t fail her, leaning in as she did and whispering back, “I like you better than my partner too.”

They both start grinning wildly at each other, feeling like they have the best secret in the world.

\- -

The research meetings were finally, _finally_ , coming to end. It feels like, to Viktor, that they’ve talked to every possible scientist, doctor, scholar, therapist from every part of the world and beyond, but he’s certain he’s being dramatic about it. His parents did always tell him he had a bit of a flair.

For the most part, while incredibly long and boring, all the meetings they had were always pretty straight forward. It was the same questions worded differently repeatedly and both Yuri and Viktor had become pros at answering them. Which is why, when the last meeting came around, Viktor didn’t think it would be any different than the ones before. It was with scientist they had spoken with previously, they just wanted to touch up on some things since their first appointment. They were so certain everything was going to go as it normally did that Nikolai didn’t go, he ended up going to the bakery he worked at when another worker called in sick.

“Yuri, listen, please calm down!”

“YOU’RE LYING!” The little one yells, anxious and hurts.

But somehow, it didn’t end up going as planned at all.

“Yuri?! Viktor?” Ekaterina’s bursts through the room’s door, with Alexei behind her, and they both inspects the room wildly. Yuri is at the far corner of the room, curled up into a little ball, shaking, and the four scientist who they were speaking with were a few feet away, at a complete loss of what to do. “What’s going on?” She demands, color rising on her face in anger.

The mom rushes over to Yuri and Alexei goes to his son, kneeling to his level, grabbing his hand in comfort.

“Yuri didn’t know Nikolai was part of Interchange,” Viktor explains, looking between his father and his Interchange partner, keeping an eye on him. “When Mr. Popov told him, he started freaking out really badly. I don’t…” Know what to do. Know what’s going. Understand why Yuri is reacting so badly. Viktor feels the word bottle in his throat and he chokes.

“Okay, it’ll be okay kiddo,” His dad smiles, and it makes Viktor believe him. With a squeeze of his son’s shoulders, Alexei gets up and starts to walk over to join the adult group. “Stay here and we’ll take care of it.”

They don’t. It doesn’t get any better from there. Even when all six adults try and calmly explain and talk to Yuri, he shuts them out completely. Viktor stands behind them, a little numb, trying to figure out how this possibly could have happened. Even he knew Nikolai was part of Interchange, despite his wife—his Collector and Yuri’s grandmother—having passed away thirteen years earlier. He was born that way, after all. He took a General Charge every four or five days, Viktor had given him the packages full of them when his monthly stock arrived in the mail. _How_. How had all of that escape Yuri. He had lived with Nikolai all by himself before that.

In the end, nobody gets through to the little blond. He cries as they leave the labs for their final time, inconsolable. Alexei tries hard to get hold of the bakery, but it’s a busy time with the lunch rush happening. Ekaterina probably runs three reds trying to get to the house as quickly as possible. And though he calms down a little on the car ride home, Yuri stills looks heartbroken and absolutely hurt.

Once they arrive home, his dad finally gets a hold of Nikolai who promises to be home as quickly as possible, but Yuri has long hidden up in his room.

“Can I talk to him?” Viktor asks his parents, stopping them from heading upstairs after Yuri. They exchange concerned looks and seem to carry out a full conversation with just their eyes before they agree.

It’s not like he has a game plan or something wonderful in mind to help solve everything, but there’s an odd feeling in his stomach that tells him he’s the one who needs to talk to Yuri right now. Maybe something good will piece itself in his brain along the way.

“Go away!” Yuri shouts through the door when he knocks.

Viktor snorts and turns the doorknob anyways, entering the room. If Yuri actually wanted to keep him out, he would have used the lock. “That doesn’t work with me,” Viktor teases and closes the door behind him. He leans against it, looking at Yuri who is on his bed, hiding in a ball under the covers. “Why are you mad?”

There’s a long moment of silence before Yuri shifts under the covers and answers, muffled, “Family doesn’t lie to family.”

“Okay,” He nods, taking steps closer to the bed, “But Nikolai didn’t lie, not really. He forgot to tell you—How he forgot, I don’t know. But he didn’t do it on purpose and I know, _I know_ , that he never meant to hurt you.”

Silence. There’s some slight sniffling going on under the covers and it tugs at Viktor’s heart. He takes a moment to look around Yuri’s room, mostly bare and empty. Despite having lived with the Nikiforov’s for almost a year now and in the new house for a good few months, Yuri refuses to unpack anything or accept Viktor’s parent’s invitation to go out and buy some things to spruce up the place. One time, Nikolai accidentally put some of Yuri’s clean laundry in the dresser instead of back in his suitcase and he hadn’t touched them since. He had done absolutely nothing to make himself at home.

“Why is it so important that Nikolai isn’t part of Interchange?” He finally asks, as carefully as he can.

Nothing happens. He thinks Yuri won’t answer him, but then the Collector begins pulling the covers off him until he can sit up, keeping the quilts close to his chest. He sniffles, wiping his mostly dry cheeks and pouts. 

“My grandpa is the strongest person I know. Invisible.” He means invincible and Viktor bites his lip to stop from smiling. “He doesn’t need anybody, not even me. He isn’t weak and he knows everything and now…it’s all a lie.”

Viktor thinks about this, answering carefully, “Your grandfather is always going to be super strong Yuri, because that’s who he is. But he’s also human and born into this crazy system,” He reasons, “So he’s going to need help, he’s going to need a Charge and he’s going to need you. Always.”

Yuri looks a little helpless, staring down at his hands with swollen eyes. Viktor shifts on his feet. “You really didn’t think he was part of Interchange?”

The little blond boy shakes his head slowly. “I thought he was different,” He answers weakly and swallows hard. “I was wrong.”

“He’s not any different Yuri, he’s still your grandfather. Nothing is going to change,” Viktor says firmly, knowing this to be true. Yuri might be hurt and betrayed, he had his right to be so, but it doesn’t change that this was Nikolai they were talking about, who would do anything to make his grandchild smile.

“He might not be different, but we definitely are,” Viktor points out with a grin, “So maybe we’re stronger than your grandfather.”

“That’s impossible,” Yuri declares quickly, instinctively and defensively. It surprises himself. Everything that Viktor said is annoying but it’s also true and Yuri finds any anger or betrayal he felt start to ease away. There’s nobody stronger than his grandfather, that was the truth. In fact, it was the ultimate proof that his grandfather could survive alone in a world that made you dependent on someone else.

“Hey…hey! If my grandpa can go so many years without a Collector, maybe I can too!!!” He gasps, the realization dawning on him. “Like, I can use that thingy he uses—the charge. I can use it and be myself.” Yuri turns to Viktor with large, excited eyes for the first time ever. “If it’s worked for him for a lot of years then it can work for me too! And we can move out and everything can be back to normal.”

It feels like a bucket of cold water is poured all over him as Yuri tells him his new-found plan. His stomach churns and his heart clenches, he wants to be angry and his fists ball up in defense. Viktor quickly tries to get himself to calm down, but there’s a small part of him that feels like he’s been sucked back into the irrationally mad kid he used to be months ago, who would yell at Yuri and walk away and wallow in self-pity.

“Yuri,” He says sternly, doing his best to keep his voice even. “That hurts.”

Yuri’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and Viktor takes a deep breath, willing his anger to slowly disappear.

“I’m _your_ Collector, think about how that makes me feel,” He explains, putting heart into his words. “You think we don’t need each other but we do. And it’s not just because you need me, I need you too. That’s the way it is.”

Yuri’s eyes move back and forth quickly, taking his partner’s words in and trying to process them. After a small moment, he softly whispers, “Oh.” He bites his lip sheepishly and looks down, embarrassed. “I’m sorry…I didn’t think about that.”

“Don’t say things like that again, okay?” This was better, so much better than being angry by himself. Yuri seems to have understood how he messed up, understands how Viktor felt, and seems to get that he can't do it again.

“I won’t,” He whispers, but it’s definite. He gets it.

Smile on his lips, Viktor makes his way to the door. Nikolai would probably be home soon and it’d be best if he and Yuri were alone to discuss whatever they need to. He’s about to exit when the other one stops him.

“Viktor,” Yuri calls out a little quickly, something funny in his voice. Viktor turns around, hand on the doorknob and head tilted. Yuri swallows hard and asks, a little shaky, “Do you really need me?”

Without much thought, the Collector smiles genuinely, not a big smile but still heartfelt. He answers, no doubt in mind. “Of course, I do.”

He turns back to the door, but it opens by itself and in steps Nikolai, breathless and red nosed and looking completely scared out of his mind. Viktor steps back to make room for the frantic grandfather.

“Yuratchka, I can explain, pleaselisten” He rushes out, words mushing together as he steps closer to the bed where Yuri sits.

“Grandpa!” The grandchild exclaims, rushing off the bed with arms extended to meet and hug Nikolai tightly. “It’s okay that you’re a liar!”

“No…Yuri…” Viktor whispers, extending a hand weakly to stop his dumb partner from talking.

“What…” Nikolai croaks in astonishment, arms wrapping around his little grandson nonetheless. He squeezes him tightly. “I thought you were furious?”

“I was but not anymore,” Yuri confesses, letting go but staying close to him. He raises his small hands to hold his grandfather’s face in them and makes the most serious expression he can muster. “But you can’t lie to me again.”

Nikolai makes a funny noise in his throat of disbelief and brings Yuri in again, tighter than before. The little one groans loudly and dramatically but hugs back just as tightly.

There’s a light and happy tone to Yuri’s voice that calms Viktor’s heart as he and Nikolai continue talking. He smiles to himself and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him to give the two some privacy. He lets his parents know that everything is okay, that they’ll be fine. They both look so relief, on the verge of both laughing and crying. He suggest they make lunch while the Plisetskys talk, it might take a while, and his parents agree. And just an added bonus, Viktor tells them they should make pirozhki, because he had heard it was a certain person's favorite. 

**\- -  
**

_“Of course, I do.”_

Yuri looks out the window of his classroom, overlooking the courtyard of their school. The teacher is carrying on with lesson and all the students are listening in various degrees of attention, but she doesn’t have Yuri’s at all. Even though he’s staring outside, his mind is in the past.

 _Of course, I need you_ is what Viktor meant. Technically. It had been over a month since the incident at the lab and Yuri couldn’t get the words out of his head. In a rush of overwhelming feelings, he had asked Viktor such a stupid question and he had replied such an equally dumb answer and the fact that it had made him so happy, so relieved, made Yuri a little angry at everything.

It was so dumb to get his hopes up. To believe he had found a place to belong that also belonged to him. But it had been such a long time now, there was part of him that was starting to get used to life here and _liking_ it. The other day Viktor and his mom had gone shopping—they had invited him but he chose to stay with his grandfather at the bakery—and they had come home with these picture frames that had the coolest looking tigers and lions in them. Viktor said that they bought them for him because he was always watching the history channel when they aired programs about the safari, especially when it was about feline beasts. Yuri has stared at them for too long in wonder to be allowed to refuse them, but he hadn’t allowed anyone to put them up. Not yet. Because he had a feeling that the moment he decided to unpack, to put things up, to feel safe…that would be the moment it would all be taken away.

It was all making his head hurt.

“There you are Yuri.” A familiar voice calls out to him loudly as he's about to leave the school for the day. Yuri turns around carefully, despite knowing who it is. Viktor walks towards him, a little worried look on his face, his uniform jacket off and long hair swaying side to side.

“What’s wrong?” Yuri asks before he can stop himself.

“I have some club duties to do right now and they’re gonna take a while,” Viktor explains, brushing one side of his hair behind his ear. He was only part of one club and didn’t have a lot of activities, but when he did, they tended to be before school. “Will you be okay to walk home by yourself?”

“Duh,” Yuri deadpans instantly, unable to help the rude tone that slips in. He panics for a second but regains composure when he sees Viktor only looks amused. He rolls his eyes and shrugs. “Should I take our Makkachin out on a walk?”

“Yeah, if you can,” The older boy smiles wide, too happy. “He loves it when you walk him.”

Yuri’s eye twitches. “Then maybe I won’t.”

“What?”

“Forget it, I will!” Yuri turns around quickly before he says something else weird. He sees Mila waiting for him at the doors and starts to run to her, but not before he stops for a second and yells back. “Be safe!

Viktor laughs, carefree and loudly. “Yeah, you too. See you at home!”

 _Home_. Yuri’s heart swells for a moment, but he doesn’t look back as he continues his way to his friend. It’s been a while but there was a point where Viktor would only refer it as The House of His House, but this was the first time ever he had called it home to Yuri. Truth be told, he had probably said it at some other point, but it was the first time Yuri noticed it and had it affect him.

“You okay loser?” Mila asks as they walk to the school gates.

“Whatever.” Yuri sticks his tongue out at her, not answering the question.

He waits with her until her mom comes to pick her up and for whatever reason, he lets her talk him into giving him a ride home. It irks him that one of the reasons he accepts is because he wants to get home and make Viktor proud by giving his dog a walk.

 _If Viktor is happy with me_ , Yuri thinks as he gets Makkachin on his leash. _Then maybe I won’t have to leave._ He reasons. It wouldn’t be the most horrible thing to stay in St. Petersburg. The bakery his grandfather worked at was the best ever.

So far January hadn’t been too bad weather wise. It was cold, sure, but it was a dry cold so Yuri could take the brown poodle on a walk around the neighborhood like they did in the summer. They walked all the way to the park at the very end of the block and then Makkachin got a little rowdy so Yuri let him off the leash for a bit while he went on the swings. Yuri noticed that when winter came, no one really came out to the playground. He would have thought kids who lived there were used to playing out in the cold but it normally went untouched. He didn’t mind, the quiet was nice too. The was only the sound of Makkachin’s heavy breathing, the creaking metal of the swings and a small little meow.

“What…” Yuri mummers and drags his feet to a stop, sticking fingers in his ears to clean them and make sure he heard right. Everything was silent again and he begins to think he just heard it in his head. He’s about to start swinging again when he hears it suddenly, the small meow of a cat. Alert, he starts following the sound all the while keeping an eye on Makkachin near the other side of the park.

In a small box, under the plastic rock climbing wall of the playground set, he finds it. A tiny tan kitten with a black patch of fur around its face and another around the end of its tail. It mewls pathetically in the box, shivering from the cold. As Yuri gets closer, his heart beating wildly in his chest, the kitten wakes up and locks eyes with his.

He fell in love.

“I found the greatest thing in the whole universe!” He exclaims to Mila the next morning as everyone at school is a mad mess filing into class and Viktor has disappeared to his classroom. She jumps up and down and begs to know what it is. “Okay but you have to keep it a secret okay?”

“Yes yes yes, tell me tell me tell me!” She squeaks, grabbing his hands and holding them close to her person.

Yuri grins madly and leans in, whispering, “I found a kitten.”

“A kitty!?” She whisper-screams back, eyes shining brightly like his.

“He’s perfect,” Yuri says excitedly, unable to contain his emotions, “I found him yesterday, he was left alone, all in the cold! I got him a blanket and some food and I want to take him home to badly, but with Viktor’s dog it—aUGH”

He gets cut off when someone puts a heavy hand on his shoulder and pushes him to the ground harshly. Mila gasps and instinctively reaches down to get him but her hand is slapped away and she’s pushed aside as the ugly third grader grabs Yuri by the jacket collar and pushes him into the floor. The smack of his head against the ceramic tiling makes his brain feel all jumbled, and Yuri has a hard time focusing on what the bully seems to be saying to him, but he knows it can’t be good. The ugly boy keeps shaking him and each time his head knocks into the floor a little more, disorienting him further.

“Let! Him! GO!” Mila grits out as she latches on to the bully’s arm and tries to pull it away. The bully looks at Mila, turns bright red, pushes her off, but also let’s Yuri go in the process.

“Stay away from him,” He growls viciously and smacks Yuri upside the head hard, then stomps off with his two friends behind him.  

Instantly, Mila is at his side, pulling him to sit up against the wall. Kids keep going into classes like nothing has happened and Yuri

“Yuri we have to tell someone, this is crazy!” She wheezes, hands flying across his face and head, making sure he’s not badly hurt. “It’s been going on for so long and it only keeps getting worse!” She shakes her head, seemingly made up her mind, and she shoots up to walk away by herself.

“No, Mila, you can’t,” Yuri urges her, snapping a hand up and grabbing hers tightly. Mila turns back slightly, but he can feel her tension.

“Why Yuri?” She questions, not looking at him.

“Just,” He falters, in a rush for words to appease her so she doesn’t go and ruin everything. He shakes his manically, trying to figure out something to say. “They never do anything, they just push me, it’s fine. It’s okay, just please. Don’t— _Don’t_ tell anyone today.”

There must be some heavy desperation in his voice because he feels Mila’s hand relax in his. Instead of running, she pulls him up. With sad eyes, she fixes his collars and hair, then grabs his face between his face and smushes it tightly but lovingly.

“One day soon, please,” She asks of him.

He doesn’t reply, she doesn’t need him too. Mila’s already made up her mind and Yuri knows there’s now a countdown to the days he can keep all this a secret. It would happen just as he finds one good little thing for himself that also needed to be kept in the dark.

Despite feeling the pressure, the need to take care of the deserted kitten beats everything else. When he takes Makkachin out on walks, he always makes sure he goes alone and he hides food, water, and a new warm towel or blanket in his jacket. He can’t bring himself to name the kitten yet, even though he knows it’s a boy and he _does_ have an idea for a name; even though the kitten really loves Yuri as much Yuri loves him. But with Mila urging him everyday to go to the Nikiforovs, Nikolai or with a teacher about the bully, he can’t get too attached. Still, for two weeks, he successfully takes care of the kitten in secret and all by himself.

“You’re so good, such a good boy,” Yuri coos, running his fingers gently through the kitten’s fur.

This day was particularly good because he didn’t have to walk Makkachin; Viktor had said he would later because Yuri had been doing it a lot lately. So when the Collector excused himself to go do his homework in his room, Yuri had escaped to to the playground. He was so happy to have some time alone with the kitten without having to worry that someone would notice he took too long walking Makkachin or having to keep an eye on the dog so he wouldn’t stray too far.

The kitten purrs sweetly in his hand, pushing into it. “Don’t worry little one, I’ll take care of you. Others didn’t want you, but I do.” A strong feeling swells in his throat and he feels his eyes start to water. “I’m like you too, y’know.” He lowers his voice into a whisper. “Nobody wanted to keep me.”

“Sounds about right.”

Yuri’s blood turns as cold. He looks up to see the ugly third grader sticking his head in under the rock wall. He brings the kitten to his chest protectively and starts to back up slowly, to exit on the other side and make a run for it, but strange hands grab his shoulders and drag him out. Yuri sees the ugly bully come around the wall and that his two equally ugly friends are the ones holding him. He begins to shake uncontrollably, trying to keep the little kitten hidden as best as he can but the bully sees him. Yuri’s heart drops to his stomach.

“What do you have here?” The ugly boy mocks. He jerks the kitten from the blond meanly and holds it by the skin behind his neck. The kitten wriggles in the bully’s hold, too tiny and frightened to do much but mewl. “It’s really ugly isn’t it? Just like you?”

One of the bully’s friends lets him go and Yuri takes his chance to try and run for the little cat but the other friend grabs him again and pulls him down to the ground aggressively, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Together, the bully and his friend grab the kitten by the tail and pull, it let’s out a high, hurting shriek and Yuri sobs.

“Nononono, please,” He pleads, frantic and desperate. He tries to get up but the bully’s friend puts a foot on his chest and pushes him hard to stay on the ground. “Let him go, please PLEASE. Let him go.”

“Okay, sure,” The ugly bully reasons, shoving the cat to his friend and walking over to him. His teeth are yellow and crooked and if he could, Yuri would punch them out. The ugly boy gets really close to his face and whispers, deathly, “If you let Mila go.”

It takes a moment for it to click. He blinks incredulously, “What?”

“You. Stop hanging around Mila,” The ugly boy snarls, spit collecting in the corners of his mouth. “You come out of nowhere and take all of her attention. You, a nobody who is worth nothing.”

Mila. That’s what this was about? Mila—an impossible, annoying, girl who Yuri didn’t even want to be friends with in the first place? That’s why they had tormented his life for almost a year of his new life? Because she had chosen him? It almost makes Yuri want to cry harder, but a new form of anger rises in his chest.

“She’s my friend,” Yuri snaps back furiously, shaking his head. There is a small part of him that wants to say, _fine!_ _I don’t like being her friend anyways! You can have her!_ But as annoying and aggravating as she is, Mila has been a wonderful friend to Yuri. Despite seeing the uncontrollable mean bits of him, Mila has stood by his side. _Besides_ , he thinks, and then says, “She’s so stubborn, if I try and stop hanging out with her—she won’t let me.” And then, because he knows this to be true. “She would never be around someone as horrible as you!”

The ugly bully’s face twists into something crazy, but he falters, so Yuri takes his chance. With all the strength he can must, he knocks their heads together. The ugly bully howls in pain, thrown back, and Yuri starts to race over to the ugly boys who have his cat but he’s pulled back by his hoodie and is tossed to the side. The ugly bully had recovered quickly, he stomps over to where he threw Yuri, who gets up fast and tries to knock him over again but the ugly boy punches him in the stomach, bringing him down to his knees. The ugly boy pushes him on his back and sinks his weight down on the blond as he also begins to throw punches.

“You stupid shit,” He spits on Yuri’s face as he lands another fist to the cold cheek. His head hits the ground and it all feels hopeless. He doesn’t have any strength to continue fighting, but he’s terrified of what the three boys are going to do to him and is even more worried about the kitten. As another punch lands on his face, Yuri wishes he were dead.

“HEY!” An extremely angry voice screams from the other side of the park. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

The ugly leader looks up and before he says anything, he’s tackled to the ground by a blur of black and silver. Yuri takes a second but quickly sits up to see the third grader being pummeled by Viktor, who looks too dangerous for a ten-year-old. Behind him, Yuri hears barking getting louder and louder and soon Makkachin is running by, jumping aggressively around Viktor and the ugly boy, barking loudly in the third grader’s ear to freak him out.

The two boys harassing the kitten yell in protest and toss the little feline behind them, running to help their friend. Yuri bolts to the kitten faster than he thought possible, picking it up gently and holding it in his arms. Aside from being a little stressed and pulled at, he seems fine—only frazzled and freaked out.

“I’m here, I’m here,” Yuri whispers softly, calming it down. Then suddenly, it hits him. “Viktor.” He gasps out in realization of what’s happening. Holding the kitten close to his chest, he looks up ready to see the worst but his eyes land on Viktor as he punches the last boy standing to the ground. His hair is in complete disarray, his cheeks and nose are bright red, but his eyes burn with rage and aside from a small, bloody scratch on his cheek, he looks completely fine. The two cowardly friends run away screaming and Viktor rolls his eyes, turning the ugly bully on the ground with a bloody nose and eyes beginning to swell.

Reaching a hand down to the bully’s collar, Viktor grabs it tightly and murmurs dangerously, “Touch him ever again and I. Will. Kill. You,”

“Why are you protecting him?” The ugly third grader hisses, not giving up. “He’s a pathetic piece of shit who deserves to die!”

“You’re pathetic,” Viktor scorns and the way he says it feels like it’s the Gospel Truth. He pushes the ugly boy to the ground like so many times he had done to Yuri. “Get out of here. And don't. Ever. Come back.”

It takes him a second, and for a moment Yuri swears the ugly boy won’t back down, but something in Viktor’s crazy eyes scares him, so he gets up and runs away as fast as his legs can carry him. Then everything is quiet once again. Aside from the sunken places on the flooring, it’s like nothing happen. Well, aside from the bruises forming on Yuri’s face and all over his body and the one trickle of blood running down Viktor’s round cheek. Other than all that.

“Viktor…” Yuri calls out softly, unable to figure out where to start.

The Collector whips his head to his Reliever with steel in his blue eyes. It hurts to look at them, so Yuri looks down at the ground. The crunch of the playground floor lets him know Viktor is walking closer to him and his heart pounds loudly in his ears in anticipation. 

“How long has it been going on?” Viktor starts, disappointment evident in his voice.

“Since I moved here.”

The older boy takes a sharp intake of breath. The answer greatly displeases him. “How could you not tell me?

“I—um,” He swallows hard, tears springing back in his eyes. His face hurts so much, and his soul feels a little dead. Sniffling, he answers quietly, “I didn’t want to cause trouble.”

Viktor huffs loudly, extends his arms and yells, “What do you call this?!”

The panic sets in. The thought of going back to the house and the Nikiforovs finding out what was happening, how great of a disappointment he was, how their precious son had gotten involved and hurt in the process of saving his pathetic Collector. They would have to leave, they would be kicked out. It was all over. “You could have left it alone! I would have been fine!” Yuri screams back in fright, hot tears running down his cheeks. His words get caught in throat for a moment, he coughs, and they’re ripped out. “You didn’t need to step in, you didn’t need to help—it would have been okay. I would have been okay! I didn’t want to cause trouble, _all_ I do is cause trouble to everyone everywhere I go, and I just didn’t want it to happen anymore,” He sobs uncontrollably, “I wanted to be good, I did, I really did, I wanted to be so good. But you hated me from the moment you met me, you could _see_ that I wasn’t good. You didn’t want me, you knew that all I do is cause problems!”

It’s amazing that no one in the houses nearby hasn’t come out to see the commotion. So much had happened and yet the neighborhood was as still as a picture.

“I never hated you,” Viktor admits softly. He sees Yuri freeze for a second before, very slowly, lifting his head to look at him with puffy red eyes. The older boy smiles sadly. “I know how I acted and it was wrong. One day I’ll tell you everything but for now, please know…I never hated you. And I don’t hate you now and I won’t hate you ever.”

He means it, Yuri can tell he means it and it leaves him speechless.

“And you don’t cause trouble everywhere you go,” He continues, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Tilting his head up the sky, he says, “None of this was your fault.” He meets his eyes again and points all around him. “You should have come to me, or your grandfather, or my parents for help. It is a little bit of a problem that you didn’t tell us about it right away BUT,” He hurries when he sees Yuri’s eyes go wide, “only because we worry about you. Your troubles are our troubles and you don’t have to do everything by yourself. From now on.” He pauses then smiles tenderly, “Well go forward together.”

The words echo in Yuri’s head and he feels dizzy and overwhelmed with happiness. Makkachin, who had been watching from afar, has gotten closer to him and starts to lick away his tears. It’s disgusting but Yuri finds a small comfort in it. When Viktor starts to kneel in front of him, he can’t help but flinch, but all the Collector does is lean forward to look at the kitten.

“Who is this?” Viktor asks, eyes soft on the creature in Yuri’s arms.

“He was left all alone, I was taking care of him,” Yuri explains, lifting the kitten up so Viktor could see him better. “I wasn’t going to take him to the house, I promise, I just didn’t want to leave him by himself. He’s so small and weak, but—but I wasn’t going to take him, I know you have a dog, I can take care of him here.”

Viktor studies Yuri’s face for a long time, before grinning and declaring, “Let’s take him home.”

Suddenly, the brown poodle sticks his nose into the kitten’s back, nuzzling it softly. Yuri freezes hard for a moment, but Viktor laughs louder and pets his dog on the head. “See, Makkachin likes him already.”

He stands up first, dusting the dirt from his jeans and helps Yuri up next. As Viktor walks ahead of him, Yuri changes the weight of the kitten to one arm, so he can grab Viktor’s hand as they walk back together. The older boy looks surprised for a moment but when the Energy starts to transfer, it makes sense. What doesn’t is that when the Wavelength gets cut off, Yuri keeps a hold on Viktor’s hand. It chokes him up a little, the feeling of Yuri’s hand on his without the feeling of Exchange. It’s wonderful.

“I don’t think they’ll bother me anymore,” The seven-year-old chirps happily, referring to the horrible bullies.

“Definitely not,” Viktor agrees with a nod. Then he narrows his eyes. “I’m still telling my parents. We’re going to get them expelled or worse, hopefully.”

“Scary…” Yuri mutters to himself, seeing the insane look on Viktor’s face.

It is a bit of a mess when they get home. There’s a lot of crying involved, a little from Yuri but mostly from Viktor’s parents and some from Nikolai. And then there’s so much talking and feelings , it all makes Yuri’s head hurt but it lets his heart feel better than it has in a long time. He finally names his kitten the best name he could possibly think of, Puma Tiger Scorpion. Viktor right out tells him to rename it but what does he know about good names anyways.

At school, Yuri decides not to tell Mila why the bullies were after him, despite his Exchange partner’s many objections. He simply doesn’t want to worry her, she’s done that more than enough. Viktor ends up with one-week after school detention for hurting the bullies so badly, Yuri starts to spiral and blame himself for it, but then the Collector tells him that the three ugly boys were expelled from school and he can’t help but smile brightly at that.

“Worth it,” Viktor grins wickedly, but Yuri doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

He shifts his weight on his feet, fumbling with the straps on his backpack. "Will you be okay walking back by yourself?"

"Yeah, it's only for an hour," Viktor shrugs and runs a finger through his hair casually. It all falls back into place beautiful. "I guess I'll do my homework during. Aaah, so annoying."

There's no malice in his words. Yuri finds himself snickering. Viktor knows he has to go soon but before that happens, he raises a hand to Yuri who takes it without question. Somehow both of them know it's time to Exchange, without Viktor getting a massive headache or Yuri passing out.

"All right." He lets go when the Wavelength ends and starts walking backward to the detention classroom. "See you later, Yura!"

Yuri blinks slowly, taking in the new nickname and finds it settles pleasantly in his ears. Beaming brightly, he calls back, "See you at home!"

 


End file.
